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http://www.archive.org/details/permanenttemperaOOamer 


2/nid  volume  id  zedfeectMiwu 
Aiedentea,  vu    a    Aiena  0/  S/em/i&icmce,  to 

wM>  me  zeauedt  mat  ne  wiii,dar  me  fiuwtc 
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ticavie,  a  nnowieaae  od-  me  fmncimed  ana 
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mucn  nioze  duceejddud  a//  wide  ana  laaicioud 
meadiized  dor  me  fiiomotion  od  tne  mteiiectua/ 
elevation,  me  moiai  /mut™,  t/ie  dociad  nafi- 
femetd,  ana  me  etemai  aooct  c%  men. 


PERMANENT 


TEMPERANCE    DOCUMENTS 


OF  THE 


/ 


AMERICAN   TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 


VOL.    I. 


BOSTON: 

SETH   BLISS,  5  CORNHILL ;    AND  PERKINS,  MARVIN,  AND  CO. 
114  WASHINGTON  STREET. 

NEW  YORK:  J.  P.  HAVEN,  148  NASSAU  STREET;  AND  LEAVITT,  LORD  AND 
CO.,  CORNER  OF  BROADWAY  AND  JOHN  STREET.  PHILADELPHIA: 
HENRY  PERKINS,  159  CHESTNUT  STREET.  BALTIMORE:  JOHN  W.  TIL- 
YARD,  SOUTH  CALVERT  STREET.  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. :  JOHN  KENNEDY, 
PENN.  AVENUE.  CINCINNATI:  TRUMAN  AND  SMITH,  MAIN  STREET. 
SOLD  ALSO  BY  MANY  OTHER  BOOKSELLERS  AND  OTHERS,  THROUGHOUT 
THE    UNITED    STATES. 

1835. 


TABLE. 


This  table  is  designed  as  a  help  to  all  classes  of  spirit  drinkers,  from  the 
man  who  uses  his  gill  per  day,  to  the  man  who  uses  his i  pint,  and  the 
one  who  uses  his  quart,  and  closes  the  day  in  a  state  of  intoxication. 
Each  of  these  classes  may,  by  inspection  of  this  table,  see  the  quantity 
they  will  drink  in  one,  two,  or  five  years,  and  so  on  to  thirty. 

We  have  also  calculated  the  expense  of  drinking,  from  one  to  thirty 
years  at  different  sums  per  day,  from  three  to  twenty-five  cents.  I-  ew 
persons  who  spend  three,  six,  or  twelve  cents  per  day,  are  aware i  how 
fast  the  amount  increases,  or  of  how  many  comforts  they  deprive  them- 
selves, by  their  habit  of  small  expenditures.  One  thing,  however,  must 
be  noticed  in  the  expense  part  of  this  table;  no  interest  is  added  to  the 
principal,  and  no  calculation  is  made  for  loss  of  time.  &c  These  would 
greatly  increase  the  respective  sum  total.  —  Temp.  nee. 

(T?*  All  communications,  relative  to  the  general  concerns  of  the  Amer- 
icanTemperance  Society,  may  be  addressed  to  the  Rev.  Justin  Edwards, 
Corresponding  Secretary,  Andover,  Mass. 

err-  Donations  and  the  payment  of  subscriptions,  and  all  communica- 
tion? with  regard  to  money,  may  be  sent  to  Hon.  Geokge  Omoiure, 
Treasurer  of  the  Society,  97  Milk  Street,  Boston. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I. 

Connection  between  Error  in  Principle  and  Immorality  in  Practice,  1 ;  Consequences  fatal,  1 ; 
Testimony  of  Physicians,  Jurists  and  Divines,  3 ;  State  previous  to  the  Temperance  Reform, 
4  ;  Great  Change,  5;  Origin  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  6  ;  Testimony  to  the  Ben- 
efits of  Abstinence,  7 ;  "  The  Well-conducted  Farm,"  8  ;  Formation  of  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society,  11 ;  Address  of  the  Executive  Committee,  12;  The  Infallible  Antidote,  14;  Na- 
tional Philanthropist,  15;  Temperance  Association  in  Andover,  15  ;  Agents,  15;  Temperance 
Publications,  16  ;  Resolutions  of  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  Suppression  of  Intemperance, 
17 ;  Testimony  of  Kittredge  and  Beecher,  18 ;  Testimony  of  Medical  Societies,  21 ;  State  of 
Things  at  the  close  of  1827,  22;  Operations  and  Success  in  1828,  23;  Kittredge's  Address  at 
the  Annual  Meeting,  24  ;  State  of  Things  at  the  close  of  1829,  27 ;  Decrease  of  Mortality,  28 ; 
Increased  Success  of  the  Gospel,  28 ;  Commencement  of  the  Temperance  Reformation  in 
Europe,  29;  Operations  and  Success  in  1830,30;  Testimony  of  Members  of  Congress,  32; 
Testimony  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  32 ;  Testimony  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  32 ; 
Desertions  from  the  Army,  33 ;  Reform  in  the  Army,  33  ;  Reform  in  the  Navy,  34 ;  Reform  in 
Merchant  Vessels,  35 ;  Effects  of  Ardent  Spirit  on  Seamen,  36 ;  State  of  the  Reformation  at 
the  close  of  1830,  38  ;  Effects  of  one  Man's  using  a  Little  daily,  39  ;  Effects  of  another  Man's 
using  None,  39;  Drunkards  reclaimed,  40;  Great  Benefits  from  small  Expenditures,  41 ;  Tes- 
timony of  Physicians,  42  ;  Persons  prevented  from  becoming  Drunkards,  44 ;  Expense  of  per- 
suading Men  to  abstain  from  the  Use  of  Ardent  Spirit  compared  with  the  Expense  of  taking 
Care  of  those  who  use  it,  45  ;  The  Good  which  may  be  effected  by  $10,000,  45;  Reasons  why 
more  Drunkards  are  not  reformed,  46;  Established  Principle  of  Law,  47;  Testimony  of  Mer- 
chants, 47  ;  Principle  of  the  Divine  Government,  48 ;  The  great  Hinderance  to  the  Temperance 
Reformation,  49  ;  Belief  of  the  Churches,  50  ;  Success  of  the  Cause,  50  ;  Publications  on  the 
Immorality  of  the  Traffic,  51;  Progress  of  Reform  in  Foreign  Countries,  52;  Prospects  of 
Extending  through  the  World,  52;  Things  to  be  avoided,  53  ;  Dealers  in  Ardent  Spirit  in  four 
Cities,  53;  Benefits  of  Temperance  Societies,  55;  Character  of  those  who  continue  in  the 
Tra.Tic,  5G  ;  Testimony  of  the  New  York  State  Committee,  57 ;  Objections  stated  and  answer- 
ed, 58. 

Appendix. — Nature  and  Origin  of  the  Use  of  Ardent  Spirits,  63 ;  Lunatics  in  Dublin  and 
Liverpool,  64 ;  Statements  in  "  The  Well-conducted  Farm,"  66  ;  Origin  of  the  Massachusetts 
Society  for  Suppression  of  Intemperance,  68  ;  Error  corrected,  69  ;  Judge  Parker's  Letter,  70  , 
Judge  Hallock's  Decision,  70  ;  Desertions  from  the  Army,  71  ;  General  Jones's  Statement,  71  ; 
General  Gaines's  Statement,  71 ;  Lieut.  Gallagher's  Statement,  72;  Dr.  Sewall's  Letter,  72; 
Dr.  Warren's  Remarks,  74  ;  Letter  from  a  Gentleman  of  the  Army,  75 ;  Judge  Cranch's  State- 
ment, 76;  Connection  between  Temperance  and  Religion,  81 ;  The  Iniquities  of  the  Fathers 
visited  upon  the  Children,  85 ;  Testimony  of  Dr.  Sewall,  86  ;  Testimony  of  Forty  Physicians, 
39 ;  Dr.  Hosack's  Statements,  91  ;  Dr.  Hale's  Essay,  91  ;  Dr.  Alden's  Address,  95;  Testimony 
of  Physicians  in  Scotland  and  Ireland,  97  ;  Dr.  Cleland's  Tables,  97  ;  Deaths  by  Ardent  Spirits, 
98;  Judge  Cranch's  Statement,  98 ;  Barbour's  Statement,  99;  Resolutions  of  Ecclesiastical 
Bodies,  99  ;  London  Temperance  Society,  100;  Virginia  Association  to  abstain  from  Tea,  103. 

PART   II. 

Truths  established  by  the  Fourth  Report,  111 ;  Opinion  of  a  Member  of  Congress,  111 ;  Cir- 
culation of  the  Fourth  Report,  112;  Testimony  of  old  Men,  113;  Report  re-published  in  Great 
Britain,  116;  Lord  Chancellor's  Declaration,  116;  Formation  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Tem- 
perance Society,  117 ;  Effect  of  Strong  Drink  in  producing  the  Cholera,  118 ;  Guilt  of  those  who 
sell  Ardent  Spirit,  119;  Comparison  with  the  Slave  Trade,  120;  Connection  with  Burking,  120; 
Chancellor  Walworth's  Opinion,  121 ;  Meeting  at  Washington,  122;  Wirt's  Testimony,  123; 


CONTENTS. 

Resolutions  and  Address  of  American  Temperance  Society,  125 ;  National  Circular,  127 ;  Cof » 
responding  Secretary,  128  ;  Professor  Ware's  Testimony,  129 ;  President  Wayland's  Inquiries, 
129;  President  Fiske's  Address  to  Church  Members,  132;  Dickinson's  Advice,  133;  Beecher'e 
Address  to  the  Young  Men  of  Boston,  184;  Judge  Daggett's  Declaration,  135;  Opinion  of 
Judge  Cranch,  135;  Injustice  of  the  Traffic  in  Ardent  Spirit,  136;  The  Rum-selling  Church 
Member,  137 ;  Venders  of  Ardent  Spirit  in  the  City  of  Washington,  138  ;  Confession  of  a  Re- 
tailer, 138  ;  Wives  murdered  by  their  husbands,  139 ;  Children  murdered  by  their  Fathers,  141 ; 
Loss  of  the  Rothsay  Castle,  142;  Commodore  Biddle's  Letter,  143;  Letter  from  an  Officer  in 
the  Army,  144;  Massachusetts  Lunatic  Asylum,  145 ;  Demoralizing  Effect  of  the  Traffic  in 
Ardent  Spirit,  146 ;  Circular  concerning  Churches,  147 ;  Connection  between  Temperance  and 
Religion,  149;  Influence  of  Church  Members  who  traffic  in  Ardent  Spirit,  150;  Testimony  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  151 ;  The  Great  Obstruction  to  the  Temperance 
Reformation,  153 ;  Churches  in  which  are  no  Members  in  the  Traffic,  155 ;  Family  Temperance 
Societies,  155;  Facts  in  the  State  of  New  York,  156  ;  Tavern  Keepers  ruined,  158;  Temper- 
ance Taverns,  and  Groceries,  160;  Progress  of  the  Cause  and  its  Results,  161 ;  The  Sabbath 
the  proper  Time  to  speak  upon  it,  162;  Duty  of  Ministers  and  Churches,  163;  Temperance 
Societies  in  Africa  and  the  Sandwich  Islands,  164;  Conclusion,  165. 

Appendix. — Edgar's  Speech,  173;  Wealthy  Drunkards,  174 ;  Kiggin's  Letter,  175;  Jersey 
Temperance  Society,  176 ;  Licenses  in  Glasgow,  177 ;  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society, 
178;  Maryland  State  Temperance  Society,  180;  Address  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  181 ;  Na- 
tional Circular,  186;  The  Immorality  of  the  Traffic,  198;  Letter,  221 ;  Resolutions  of  Ministers 
of  the  Gospel,  222 ;  Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly,  222 ;  The  danger  of 
selling  Ardent  Spirit,  223;  Temperance  Efforts  in  China,  224;  Important  Decision  in  Chan- 
cery, 224 ;  Tax  on  the  Sale  of  Ardent  Spirit,  225 ;  The  sale  of  Ardent  Spirit  a  Nuisance,  225  ; 
Benefits  of  Abstinence  from  the  use  of  Intoxicating  Liquor,  226. 


PART  III. 

Truths  established  in  the  last  two  Reports,  227  ;  Number  of  copies  printed  in  this  country, 
228 ;  Testimony  of  distinguished  men  concerning  them,  228 ;  Object  of  those  Reports,  and  of 
the  present,  229;  Additional  Agents,  230;  Circular  for  Simultaneous  Meetings,  231;  Order 
from  the  War  Department,  235;  Testimony  of  a  distinguished  Jurist,  235;  Testimony  of  a 
Mail  Contractor,  236;  Testimony  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  237;  Testimony  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  238 ;  Testimony  of  Naval  Officers,  239 ;  Bribery  of  Electors  by  Candidates  for 
office,  240  ;  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  241 ;  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  242  ;  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire,  243 ;  General  Asso- 
ciations of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  Maine,  244;  American  Quarterly  Temperance 
Magazine,  244:  Cook's  Speech  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  246;  Testimony  of  a  European 
writer,  248  ;  Conduct  of  a  Millwright,  and  of  a  Miller,  249 ;  Doings  of  Legislatures,  250  ;  Sale 
of  Ardent  Spirit  treated  as  immoral,  251  ;  Churches  free  from  traffickers  in  ardent  spirit,  252; 
A  great  Mistake,  253;  Testimony  of  a  gambler,  and  a  vender  of  lottery  tickers,  254;  Temper- 
ance efforts  in  the  City  of  New  York,  255;  Circular  for  a  United  States  Convention,  256; 
Meeting  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  257 ;  Formntion  of  the  American  Congressional  Tem- 
perance Society,  259 ;  Simultaneous  Meetings  in  Great  Britain,  260 ;  Address  of  John  Wilks, 
Esq.  M.  P.,  260 ;  Address  of  the  Bishop  of  Chester,  261 ;  Address  of  P.  Crampton,  Sol.  Gen. 
for  Ireland,  262 ;  English  Temperance  Magazine,  263 ;  Insurance  of  Temperance  ships,  264; 
Drunkards  ceasing  to  use  intoxicating  drinks,  265;  The  way  to  render  reformation  permanent, 
269 ;  The  great  hindrance  to  the  Temperance  Reformation,  270 ;  License  laws  morally  and 
politically  wrong,  271 ;  License  laws  promote  intemperance,  271 ;  License  laws  injurious  to 
the  wealth  of  a  nation,  272;  Testimony  of  a  country  merchant,  274;  Testimony  of  a  city 
merchant,  275 ;  Amount  lost  by  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  276 ;  Beneficial  uses  to  which  it 
might  be  applied,  277  ;  The  traffic  in  spirit  injurious  to  the  public  health,  278 ;  The  traffic  in 
spirit  productive  of  Cholera,  281 ;  The  traffic  in  spirit  injurious  to  intellect  and  to  morals,  282 ; 
Reasons  why  it  produces  such  effects,  283;  Obstacles  to  the  Temperance  Reformation,  286 ; 
License  laws  vicious,  287 ;  License  laws  without  foundation,  288 ;  License  laws  highly  expen- 
sive, 289;  License  laws  detrimental  to  Agriculture,  291;  Judge  Piatt's  Opinion,  293;  The 
Turning  Point.  294. 


CONTENTS. 

Appendix. — Extracts  from  Gerrit  Smith's  Address,  300 ;  Extracts  from  Judge  Piatt's  Ad- 
dress, 305;  Extracts  from  President  Fisk's  Address,  306;  Laws  of  Massachusetts  against  Lot- 
teries, and  let-den  pipes,  316;  United  States  Temperance  Convention,  317;  Reasons  for  com- 
plying with  the  Resolutions  of  the  Convention,  325 ;  Extracts  of  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  »t 
Washington,  328 ;  Constitution  of  the  Am.  Congressional  Temp.  Society,  329 ;  Reduction  of 
Taxes,  330 ;  Letter  from  a  merchant  in  Alabama,  331 ;  Letter  from  the  Sandwich  Islands,  332 ; 
Facts  with  regard  to  Catskill,  333;  New  York  State  Report,  338;  General  Association  of 
Massachusetts,  338 ;  Laws  which  license  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  morally  wrong,  338. 

PART   IV. 

Auspicious  indications  of  the  present  time,  339 ;  Object  of  forming  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society,  341 ;  State  of  Temperance  in  1833,  342;  Meeting  of  the  United  States'  Temper- 
ance Convention,  342 ;  Convention  in  Massachusetts,  343 ;  Convention  in  New  York,  S44; 
Conventions  in  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  Kentucky,  345 ;  Conventions  in  Vermont,  Maine,  and 
New  Jersey,  346 ;  Congressional  Temperance  Meeting,  346 ;  Conventions  in  Pennsylvania, 
Missouri,  and  Delaware,  350 ;  Present  state  of  the  Temperance  cause,  352 ;  Insurance  on 
Temperance  vessels,  353 ;  Drunkards  reformed,  355 ;  Temperance  Tales,  357 ;  The  price  of 
blood,  360 ;  Conscience  and  the  spirit  vender,  362 ;  Temperance  in  England,  371 ;  Temperance 
in  Sweden,  372 ;  Temperance  in  Russia,  373 ;  Temperance  in  India  and  Africa,  374 ;  Temper- 
ance in  New  Holland,  375;  Reports  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  376;  Opinions  of 
Jurists  and  Statesmen,  380 ;  Remarks  in  a  London  Magazine,  392;  Traffic  in  ardent  spirit  for- 
bidden by  the  Bible,  394 ;  Principles  involved,  396 ;  Effects  on  crimes,  397 ;  Effects  on  life,  403 ; 
Traffic  dishonest,  406;  Traffic  destroys  the  soul,  409;  Letters  from  England,  412;  Resolutions 
of  American  Temperance  Society,  416;  Resolutions  of  Ecclesiastical  Bodies,  418;  Testimony 
of  Editors,  419 ;  Objections,  422 ;  Address  to  Moderate  Drinkers,  425 ;  Address  to  Venders,  426 ; 
Address  to  Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  429;  Address  to  Members  of  Churches,  432. 

Appendix. — American  Congressional  Resolutions,  440;  Extracts  from  the  Address  of  Hob. 
B.  F.  Butler,  441 ;  Extracts  from  the  Address  of  Hon.  H.  L.  Pinckney,  442;  Extracts  from 
Gerrit  Smith's  letter,  443;  Extracts  from  Chipman's  Report,  449;  Summary  of  Results  of  tie 
New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  450 ;  American  Temperance  Union,  450. 


PART   V. 

Alcohol,  the  product  of  vinous  fermentation,  455  ;  The  process  of  extracting  it,  456;  Opin- 
ions of  its  Medical  virtues,  457 ;  Distilled  liquor  introduced  as  a  drink,  458 ;  Reasons  why 
men  continue  to  drink  it,  459 ;  Reasons  why  they  continue  to  increase  the  quantity,  461 ;  The 
way  in  which  Alcohol  causes  death,  463 ;  Its  effects  on  infant  children,  464 ;  The  testimony  of 
God,  with  regard  to  it,  465;  Violation  of  principle,  and  its  results,  467;  Effects  of  Alcohol  on 
the  soul,  469 ;  Its  production  of  pauperism  and  crime,  470 ;  Its  effects  in  counteracting  the 
efficacy  of  the  Gospel,  472;  Its  polluting  and  hardening  influence  upon  the  heart,  473;  State 
of  the  Temperance  Reformation  in  the  U.  S.,  474;  Do.  in  Great  Britain,  475;  Effects  of  absti- 
nence from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  476 ;  J.  S.  Buckingham's  statement,  484 ;  Address  to  th« 
Drunkards  of  Great  Britain,  485 ;  Progress  of  Temperance  in  Sweden,  486 ;  Do.  in  Russia, 
Finland,  and  India,  487 ;  Do.  in  Burmah  and  Sumatra,  488 ;  Do.  in  Egypt,  489 ;  Plan  of  future 
operations,  491 ;  Dr.  Mussey's  Prize  Essay,  494 ;  Experiments  in  the  Auburn  State  Prison,  494 ; 
Other  experiments,  495;  The  best  protection  against  diseases,  496 ;  Effects  of  Alcohol  on  the 
Cholera,  496 ;  Testimony  of  Physicians  to  water,  as  the  proper  drink  for  man,  497 ;  Testimony 
of  sea-faring  men,  500;  Substitutes  for  Alcohol  as  a  medicine,  501 ;  Restoratives  from  sickness, 
504 ;  Extracts  from  Dr.  Lindsly's  Prize  Essay,  507 ;  Effects  of  Alcohol  on  children  and  on  men, 
507;  Substitutes  for  ardent  spirit,  as  a  medicine,  509;  In  Dyspepsy  and  in  low  Typhoid  states 
of  the  system,  &c.  511 ;  Opinion  of  Drs.  Sewall,  and  Warren,  513  ;  Resolutions  of  the  New 
York  State  Temperance  Society,  514. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  great  increase  of  drunkenness,  within  the  last  half  century,  among  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  led  a  number  of  philanthropic  individuals,  in  the  year  1825  to 
consult  together,  upon  the  duty  of  making  more  united,  systematic,  and  extended  efforts 
for  the  prevention  of  this  evil.  Its  cause  was  at  once  seen  to  be,  the  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquor;  and  its  appropriate  remedy,  abstinence.  It  was  also  known,  that  the  use 
of  such  liquor,  as  a  beverage,  is  not  only  needless,  but  injurious  to  the  health,  the 
virtue,  and  the  happiness  of  men.  It  was  believed,  that  the  facts  which  had  been,  and 
which  might  be  collected,  would  prove  this,  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  disinterested  and 
candid  mind  ;  and  that  if  the  knowledge  of  them  were  universally  disseminated  it  would, 
with  the  divine  blessing,  do  much  toward  changing  the  habits  of  the  nation.  It  was 
thought  therefore  to  be  proper  to  make  the  experiment.  For  this  purpose,  was  formed 
on  the  13th  of  February,  1826,  The  American  Temperance  Society.  Its 
object  is,  by  the  diffusion  of  information,  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influence,  and 
the  power  of  united,  and  consistent  example,  to  effect  such  a  change  of  sentiment  and 
practice,  that  drunkenness  and  all  its  evils  will  cease ;  and  temperance,  with  its  atten- 
dant benefits  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  will  universally  prevail.  This  object  the 
Society  has  now  pursned  for  ten  years ;  and  the  results  of  its  efforts,  are  presented  to 
the  consideration  of  the  community,  in  the  subsequent  volume.  It  is  earnestly  desired 
that  a  copy  of  this  volume  may  be  put  into  the  hands  of  every  Preacher,  Lawyer,  Phy- 
sician, Magistrate,  Officer  of  Government,  Secretary  of  a  Temperance  Society,  Teach- 
er of  youth,  and  educated  young  man,  throughout  the  United  States,  and  throughout 
the  world. 

The  principles,  facts,  and  reasonings  contained  in  this  volume,  have  special  reference 
to  Alcohol,  in  the  form  of  distilled  liquor;  but  they  will  apply  to  it,  in  every  other 
form,  in  proportion  to  its  quantity,  the  frequency  with  which  it  is  used,  and  its  power 
to  produce  intoxication ;  or  derangement  of  the  regular  and  healthy  action  of  the  Human 
System.  The  volume  is  divided  into  five  parts,  called  Reports.  These,  however,  are 
not  so  much  Reports  of  the  operations  of  the  friends  of  Temperance  and  their  results, 
as  Reports  of  Principles  in  the  Government  of  God,  as  illustrated  by  facts,  with  regard 
to  men,  which  show,  that  for  them  to  continue  to  use  ardent  spirit  as  a  beverage,  is  a 
violation  of  his  laws;  and  will  prove,  by  its  consequences,  that,  "the  way  of  trans- 
gressors is  hard." 

The  first  part  shows  that  it  is  immoral  to  drink  such  liquor;  and  the  second  that  it 
is  immoral  to  manufacture,  vend,  or  furnish  it,  to  be  drank  by  others.  The  third  part 
shows  that  the  making,  or  continuing  of  laws  which  license  men  to  sell  ardent  spirits 
to  be  used  as  a  beverage,  and  thus  teaching  to  the  community  that  the  drinking  of  it  is 
Vight,  and  throwing  over  it  the  shield  of  legislative  sanction  and  support,  is  also  immoral. 
The  fourth  part,  exhibits  those  principles  of  Diviire  Revelation,  which  the  above  men- 
tioned practices  violate;  and  the  fifth  part,  shows  the  manner  in  which  Alcohol,  when 
used  as  a  beverage,  causes  death  to  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  persons  of  all  ages,  conditions  and  employments,  in  view 
of  its  evils,  have  ceased  to  use  it ;  and  so  far  as  they  or  others  can  discover,  have  been 
greatly  benefited  by  the  change.  Let  all  do  the  same,  and  drunkenness  will  universally 
and  for  ever  cease.  Pauperism,  crime,slckness,  insanity,  wretchedness,  and  premature- 
death,  will,  to  a'great  extent,  be  prevented.  Health,  virtue  and  happiness  will  be  in- 
creased ;  human  life  be  prolonged  ;  the  gospel,  through  grace,  be  more  widely  extended, 
and  generally  embraced;  God  be  more  highly  honored,  and  souls  in  greater  numbers  be 
illuminated,  purified,  and  saved. 

Each  individual,  therefore,  into  whose  hand  this  volume  may  come,  is  most  respect- 
fully and  earnestly  entreated  attentively  to  peruse  it;  and  if  he  has  not  already  done  it, 
seriously  to  inquire  whether  it  is  not  his  duty  to  renounce  for  ever  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drink.  He  is  also  requested  to  communicate  as  extensively  as  possible  the  knowledge 
of  the  facts  which  the  volume  contains;  and  to  labor,  in  all  suitable  ways,  to  induce  all 
persons  to  exemplify  its  principles,  by  a  united  and  consistent  example. 


FOURTH  ANNUAL  REPORT. 


The  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance  So- 
ciety, having  been  permitted,  through  the  kindness  of  the  Lord,  to 
continue  their  labors  in  his  service,  would,  as  a  testimony  to  his 
goodness,  present  their  Fourth  Report. 

In  the  evils  which  this  Society  aims  to  remove,  the  connection 
between  error  in  principle,  and  immorality  in  practice,  is  strikingly 
exhibited.  Less  than  three  hundred  years  ago,*  the  error  began  to 
prevail  in  Great  Britain,  that  ardent  spirit,  as  an  article  of  luxury 
or  diet,  or  as  an  aid  to  labor,  is  useful.  The  cause  of  this  error 
was,  the  deceptive  feelings  of  those  who  used  it.  Being,  in  its 
nature,  a  mocker,  it  deceived  them.  By  disturbing  healthy  action 
and  inducing  disease,  it  created  an  unnatural  thirst ;  the  gratification 
of  which,  like  the  gratification  of  the  desire  of  sinning  in  the  man 
who  sins,  causes  it  to  increase  ;  and  the  end  is  death. 

The  consequence  has  been,  as  stated  by  a  writer  in  Scotland, 
and  as  illustrated  by  facts,  "  There  is  reason  to  believe,  that  intem- 
perance has  cost  that  country  more  lives,  demoralized  more  persons, 
broken  more  hearts,  beggared  more  families,  and  sent  more  souls  to 
perdition,  than  all  other  vices  put  together." 

This  fatal  error,  that  ardent  spirit  is  for  men  in  health  useful,  did 
not  prevail  generally  among  the  mass  of  people  in  this  country,  till 
after  the  American  Revolution.  In  that  mighty  struggle  which  gave 
birth  to  a  nation,  and  in  the  numerous  hardships  and  dangers  to 
which  the  soldiers  were  exposed,  they  were  furnished,  by  the 
government,  with  a  portion  of  this  poison,  under  the  fatal  delusion 
that  it  would  do  them  good.  The  consequence  was,  as,  under 
similar  circumstances,  it  ever  must  be,  the  diseased  appetite  which 
this  poison  creates,  was  formed  by  great  numbers ;  was  carried  out 
by  them,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  into  the  community ;  and  was  ex- 
tended through  the  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  half  century  of  our  national  existence, 
this  diseased  appetite  had  become  so  prevalent  as  to  demand,  annu- 
ally, for  its  gratification,  more  than  sixty  million  gallons  of  liquid 
fire.     And  while  it  cost  the  consumers  more  than  thirty  million 

*  Appendix,  A. 


Z  AMERICAN   TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

dollars,  it  caused  more  than  three  fourths  of  all  the  pauperism, 
crimes,  and  wretchedness  of  the  community.  It  also  greatly  in- 
creased the  number,  frequency,  and  violence  of  diseases ;  and, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  the  most  intelligent  and  judicious 
physicians,  occasioned  annually  the  loss  of  more  than  thirty  thousand 
lives.  The  loss  of  property,  occasioned  by  the  consumption  of 
ardent  spirit,  amounted,  in  forty  years,  to  a  greater  sum  than  the 
value  of  all  the  houses  and  lands  in  the  United  States,  forty  years 
ago.  The  use  of  it  caused  a  destruction — and,  there  is  reason  to 
fear,  for  both  worlds — of  more  than  half  a  million  of  men. 

Though  no  exact  account  had  been  taken  in  this  country,  it  was 
known  that  it  had  destroyed  the  reason  of  a  great  portion  of  all  the 
maniacs  in  the  land  ;  and  had  lessened  the  reason,  as  well  as  weak- 
ened the  bodies,  blunted  the  moral  susceptibilities,  and  hardened 
the  hearts  of  all  who  had  freely  used  it. 

Of  seven  hundred  and  eighty-one  maniacs  in  two  hospitals  in 
Great  Britain,  three  hundred  and  ninety-two  were  made  such  by 
intemperance.*  And  had  the  inquiry  been  as  carefully  made  in  this 
country,  the  result  might  have  been  substantially  the  same.  The 
free  use  of  this  stimulant  had,  in  many  cases,  caused  a  predisposition 
to  insanity,  not  only  in  those  who  used  it,  but  in  their  children, 
and  children's  children.  A  tendency  to  this  disease,  and  manv 
others  occasioned  by  strong  drink,  had  become  hereditary,  and 
was  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation.  A  diminution  of 
size  and  stature,  a  decrease  of  bodily  and  mental  strength,  a  feeble- 
ness of  vision,  and  a  premature  old  age,  told  of  a  disease  that  had 
seized  on  the  vitals,  and  was  consuming  the  energies  of  life.  The 
use  of  this  liquid  was  causing  a  general  deterioration  of  body  and 
mind,  and  was  threatening  to  roll  its  curses,  in  broader  and  deeper 
streams,  over  all  future  generations. 

Yet,  notwithstanding  this,  such  was  the  nature  of  this  poison, 
and  such  its  power  to  deceive  those  who  used  it,  that  the  opinion 
was  almost  universal,  that  the  use  of  it  was  salutary,  and  to  laboring 
men  needful. 

Trotter,  who  had  as  good  an  opportunity  and  was  as  well  able 
to  judge  as  any  man,  had  indeed  said,  "  That  of  all  the  evils  of 
human  life,  no  cause  of  disease  had  so  wide  a  range,  or  so  large  a 
share,  as  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  ;  and  that  more  than  half  of  all 
the  sudden  deaths  were  occasioned  by  them;" — and  Aitman  had 
declared,  "  That  art  never  made  so  fatal  a  present  to  mankind 
as  the  invention  of  distilling  them." 

Willan  had  said,  "  That  the  use  of  these  liquors,  in  large  cities, 
produced  more  diseases  than  confined  air,  unwholesome  exhala- 
tions, and  the  combined  influence  of  all  other  evils ;" — and  Paris, 

*  Appendix,  B. 


FOURTH    REPORT. 1831.  3 

•'That  the  art  of  distillation  must  be  regarded  as  the  greatest 
curse  ever  inflicted  on  human  nature  ;  and  that  ardent  spirits  produce 
more  than  half  of  all  chronical  diseases." 

Darwin  had  testified,  "  That  when  chronical  diseases  arise  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  they  are  liable  to  become  hereditary,  even 
to  the  third  generation  ;  and  if  the  cause  is  continued,  to  increase 
till  the  family  becomes  extinct." 

Frank  had  declared,  ';  That  the  use  of  these  liquors  ought  to  be 
entirely  dispensed  with,  on  account  of  their  tendency,  even  when 
taken  in  small  doses,  to  induce  disease,  premature  old  age,  and 
death  ;"— -and  Cheyne  had  stigmatized  them,  as  being  "  most  like 
opium  in  their  nature  and  operation,  and  most  like  arsenic  in  their 
deleterious  and  poisonous  effects." 

Mosely  had  said,  from  his  own  observation,  having  resided  in  the 
West  Indies,  "  That  persons  who  drink  nothing  but  cold  water,  or 
make  it  their  principal  drink,  are  but  little  affected  by  tropical  cli- 
mates ;  that  they  undergo  the  greatest  fatigue  without  inconvenience, 
and  are  not  so  subject  as  others  to  dangerous  diseases ;" — and  Bell. 
<l  That  rum,  when  used  even  moderately,  always  diminishes  the 
strength,  renders  men  more  susceptible  of  disease,  and  unfits  them 
for  any  service  in  which  vigor  and  activity  are  required  ;  and  that 
we  might  as  well  throw  oil  into  a  house,  the  roof  of  which  was  on 
fire,  in  order  to  prevent  the  flames  from  extending  to  the  inside,  as 
to  pour  ardent  spirits  into  the  stomach,  to  lessen  the  effect  of  a 
hot  sun  upon  the  skin." 

Munro  had  declared,  "  That  a  man  had  no  more  need  of  ardent 
spirit  than  a  cow,  or  a  horse  ;" — and  Kirk,  "  That  fifteen  out  of 
twenty  cases  of  liver  complaint  were  occasioned  by  the  use  of  it ; 
and  that  men  who  had  always  been  considered  temperate  had, 
by  using  it,  shortened  life  more  than  twenty  years."  He  had  also 
given  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  regular  and  respectable  use  of  this 
poison  kills  more  men  than  drunkenness  itself.  Barkhausen  had 
testified,  "  That  he  had  known  persons  affected  even  with  delirium 
tremens,  who  had  never  been  intoxicated  in  their  whole  lives." 

Rush  had  maintained,  "  That  men  in  all  kinds  of  business  would 
be  better  without  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors ;  and  that  there  are 
but  one  or  two  cases  in  which  they  can  be  used  without  essential 
injury ;" — and  Chapman,  "  That  the  evils  of  using  them  are  so 
great,  that  the  emptying  of  Pandora's  box  was  but  the  type  of  what 
has  been  experienced  by  the  diffusion  of  these  liquors  among  the 
human  species  1" 

Others  had  given  a  similar  testimony,  and  denounced  the  use  of 
them  altogether,  except  in  case  of  necessity.  But,  with  many 
who  professed  to  adopt  this  rule,  the  difficulty  was,  the  necessity, 
in  their  estimation,  came  every  day.  The  consequence  was,  if 
they  and  their  children  did  not  become  drunkards,  they  raised  no 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY". 

barrier  to  that  tide  of  drunkenness  which  was  sweeping  through  the 
land. 

Judge  Hale,  after  twenty  years'  observation  and  experience,  had 
declared,  "That  if  all  the  murders,  and  manslaughters,  and 
burglaries,  and  robberies,  and  riots,  and  tumults,  the  adulteries,  forni- 
cations, rapes,  and  other  great  enormities,  which  had  been  commit- 
ted within  that  time,  were  divided  into  five  parts,  four  of  them 
would  be  found  to  have  been  the  result  of  intemperance." 

The  Sheriff  of  London  and  Middlesex  had  said,  "That  the  evil 
which  lies  at  the  root  of  all  other  evils,  is  that,  especially,  of  drink- 
ing ardent  spirit ;  that  he  had  long  been  in  the  habit  of  hearing 
criminals  refer  all  their  misery  to  this,  so  that  he  had  ceased  to  ask 
the  cause  of  their  ruin,  so  universally  was  it  effected  by  spirituous 
liquors."  And  Mr.  Poinder,  in  an  examination  before  the  Commit- 
tee of  the  House  of  Commons,  had  testified,  "That  from  facts,  that 
had  fallen  under  his  own  observation,  he  was  persuaded  that,  in  all 
trials  for  murder,  with  very  few,  if  any  exceptions,  it  would  ap- 
pear, on  investigation,  that  the  criminal  had,  in  the  first  instance,  de- 
livered up  his  mind  to  the  brutalizing  effects  of  spirituous  liquors." 
And  similar  was  the  testimony  from  others. 

John  Wesley  had  declared,  and  published  to  the  world,  "That 
the  men  who  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  sell  to  all  who  will  buy,  are 
poisoners  general ;  that  they  murder  his  majesty's  subjects  by 
wholesale ;  neither  does  their  eye  pity  or  spare.  And  what,"  said 
he,  "  is  their  gain  ?  Is  it  not  the  blood  of  these  men  ?  Who  would 
envy  their  large  estates,  and  sumptuous  palaces  ?  A  curse  is  in  the 
midst  of  them.  The  curse  of  God  is  on  their  gardens,  their  walks, 
their  groves ;  a  fire  that  burns  to  the  nethermost  hell.  Blood, 
blood,  is  there ;  the  foundation,  the  floor,  the  walls,  the  roof,  are 
stained  with  blood.  And  canst  thou  hope,  O  man  of  blood,  though 
thou  art  clothed  in  scarlet,  and  fine  linen,  and  farest  sumptuously 
every  day,  canst  thou  hope  to  deliver  down  the  fields  of  blood  to  the 
third  generation  ?  Not  so — there  is  a  God  in  heaven  ;  therefore  thy 
name  shall  be  rooted  out.  Like  as  those  whom  thou  hast  destroyed, 
both  body  and  soul,  thy  memorial  shall  perish  with  thee." 

The  Friends  had  prohibited  their  members  from  engaging  in  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  discountenanced  the  use  of  it  as  an 
immorality. 

Yet  such  was  the  power  of  ardent  spirit  to  blind  the  understand- 
ing, sear  the  conscience,  and  harden  the  heart,  that,  notwithstanding 
these,  and  other  similar  testimonies  from  physicians,  jurists  and 
divines,  many  were  engaged  in  the  traffic  ;  some  who  professed  to 
be  Christians,  who  had  covenanted  to  do  good,  and  good  only,  as 
they  had  opportunity,  to  all,  were  making,  and,  for  the  sake  of  gain, 
were  furnishing  to  all  who  would  purchase,  that  which  tended  to  ruin 
them,  and  their  children  after  them,  for  both  worlds.     And  so  de- 


FOURTH    REPORT. 1831.  5 

ceived  were  the  community,  that  it  was  generally  thought  to  be 
proper.  It  was  licensed  by  the  government,  and  sanctioned  by 
Christian  churches.  Some  who  were  officers  in  these  churches, 
and  who  profess  to  be  ministers  of  the  gospel,  were  actively  en- 
gaged in  furnishing  that  which  tended,  with  its  whole  influence,  to 
prevent  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  to  perpetuate  spiritual  death . 
to  all  future  generations. 

But  a  great  change  has  been  commenced ;  and  one  which,  in 
the  rapidity  and  extent  of  its  progress,  has  no  parallel  in  the  history 
of  man.  Already  is  it  spoken  of,  by  the  wise  and  the  good  in  riiis 
and  other  countries,  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world. 

"The  great  discovery,"  says  a  European  writer,  "has  at  length 
come  forth  like  the  light  of  a  new  day,  that  the  temperate  members 
of  society  are  the  chief  agents  in  promoting  and  perpetuating 
drunkenness.  On  whose  mind  this  great  truth  first  rose,  is  not 
known.  Whoever  he  was,  whether  humble  or  great,  peace  to  his 
memory.  He  has  done  more  for  the  world  than  he  who  enriched 
it  with  the  knowledge  of  a  new  continent ;  and  posterity,  to  the  re- 
motest generation,  shall  walk  in  the  light  which  he  has  thrown 
around  them.  Had  it  not  been  for  him,  Americans  and  Europeans 
might  have  continued  to  countenance  the  moderate  ordinary  use  of 
a  substance,  whose  most  moderate  ordinary  use  is  temptation  and 
danger ;  and,  amidst  a  flood  of  prejudice  and  temptation,  urged  on- 
ward by  themselves,  they  would  have  made  rules  against  drunken- 
ness, like  ropes  of  sand,  to  be  burst  and  buried  by  the  coming  wave. 
Temperance  Societies,"  he  says,  "  have  not  only  made  America  truly 
the  new  world,  but  in  a  few  months  they  have  produced  an  un- 
paralleled change  in  many  districts  of  the  United  Kingdom." 

And  says  another  writer,  "  Temperance  Societies  have  arisen  on 
our  darkness  like  the  cheering  star  of  hope.  They  now  flash  across 
our  Eastern  hemisphere  with  the  bright  and  beauteous  radiance  of 
the  bow  of  promise." 

And  says  another  writer,  "  It  would  be  an  act  of  ingratitude 
towards  our  American  friends,  were  we  in  any  degree  to  throw  into 
the  shade  the  obligations  under  which  we  lie  to  them  for  having 
originated  this  noble  cause.  If  the  names  of  Washington  and 
others  are  deservedly  dear  to  them  for  their  struggles  in  the  cause 
of  freedom,  there  are  other  names  which  will  descend  to  the 
latest  posterity,  as  the  deliverers  of  their  country  from  a  thraldom 
more  dreadful  by  far  than  that  of  any  foreign  yoke." 

"  The  American  Temperance  Society,"  says  a  writer  of  our  own 
country,  "has  accomplished  more  good  than  any  other  ever  formed, 
in  the  same  space  of  time.  The  precipice  over  which  we  were 
falling  has  been  described,  the  alarm  has  been  sounded,  and  we 
are  not  lost.  Heaven  has  decreed  that  we  shall  not  be  lost.  God 
has  said  to  America,  as  he  did  of  old  to  ancient  Sodom, '  I  will  save 
1* 


0  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

you,  if  ten  righteous,  sober  men  can  be  found.'  They  have  beer* 
found,  and  we  are  redeemed." 

And  says  another,  "  The  greatest  improvement  of  modern  times- 
consists  in  the  discovery  that  alcohol,  as  a  beverage,  is  poison  for 
the  mind,  as  well  as  the  body ;  and  the  greatest  invention  of  our 
day  is,  that  of  constructing  those  moral  machines,  called  Tempe- 
rance Societies.  They  as  far  exceed  steam-engines,  railways, 
cotton-spinning  machines,  &ic.  as  the  mind  is  superior  to  matter ; 
and  the  bodies  and  souls  of  mankind,  are  of  more  consequence  than 
money,  and  merchandise.  We  hope,  therefore,  that  the  time  will' 
soon  arrive,  when  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  will  com- 
pose a  Temperance  Society  ;  of  which  every  man,  woman  and 
child,  who  has  arrived  at  years  of  discretion,  will  be  a  member." 

Multitudes  now  believe,  that  they  cannot  continue  even  to  use 
ardent  spirit,  without  the  commission  of  known  and  aggravated  sin  'T 
or  furnish  it  for  others,  without  being  accessory  to  the  ruin,  temporal 
and  eternal,  of  their  fellow  men.  Hundreds  of  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel, thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  professed  Christians,  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  distinguished  and  philanthropic  men,  have 
become  convinced,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  as  an  article  of 
luxury  or  diet,  is  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  religion,  and  ought 
to  be  abandoned  throughout  the  world. 

When  great  changes  take  place  in  the  natural  or  moral  world, 
many  are  anxious  to  know  the  cause ,-  and  the  means  by  which 
those  changes  were  effected.  This  is  now  the  case  with  regard  to 
the  Temperance  Reformation.  Numerous  inquiries  have  been 
made,  during  the  past  year,  in  this  and  other  counU'ies,  with  regard 
to  the  origin  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  ;  and  the  rea- 
sons which  led  its  friends  to  adopt  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit,  as  the  first  grand  principle  of  their  operations. 

These  inquiries  the  Committee  are  disposed  to  answer ;  both  as 
a  testimony  to  the  divine  goodness,  and  an  encouragement  to  all 
who  are  disposed,  in  dependence  on  divine  aid,  and  in  the  use  of 
suitable  means,  to  attempt  to  do  all  for  the  benefit  of  man  which 
needs  to  be  done. 

About  seventeen  years  ago,  a  communication  was  made  by  a 
member  of  this  Committee,  on  the  evils  of  using  intoxicating  liquors 
at  funerals ;  and  reasons  were  presented,  why  tliis  practice,  which  had 
become  common  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  should  be  done 
away.  One  reason  was,  die  tendency  of  this  practice  to  prevent 
the  benefit  that  might  otherwise  be  derived  from  providences,  and 
the  religious  exercises  of  funeral  occasions.  The  effect  showed 
that  such  labors  are  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  The  practice  de- 
clined, and  was  soon,  in  a  great  measure,  done  away. 

Not  long  after,  he  made  another  communication  on  the  evils  of 
furnishing  ardent  spirit  as  an  article  of  entertainment,  especially  to 


FOURTH    REPORT. 1S31.  ? 

ministers  of  the  gospel ;  a  practice  which  was  also  common,  and  was 
thought  by  many  to  be  a  suitable  expression  of  respect  and  kind- 
ness toward  the  ministerial  office.  The  effect  of  this  also  was 
strongly  marked ;  and  some  persons  from  that  time  adopted  the 
nlan  of  not  using  ardent  spirit  on  any  occasion.  The  benefits  of 
abstinence  were  striking ;  facts  were  collected,  and  arrangements 
made  for  a  more  extended  exhibition  of  this  subject.  Men  were 
found  who  had  been  led  by  their  own  reflections,  in  view  of  the  evil 
.  which  it  occasions,  to  renounce  the  use  of  this  poison ;  and  others 
who  had  never  used  it.  Yet,  as  a  body,  they  enjoyed  better  health 
than  those  who  continued  to  use  it,  were  more  uniform  and  consist- 
ent in  their  deportment,  and  more  ready  for  every  good  word  and 
work. 

In  1S22,  a  teamster,  partially  intoxicated,  by  using  what  some 
persons,  for  less,  probably,  than  twenty-five  cents,  had  given  him,  fell 
under  the  wheels  of  his  wagon,  and  was  crushed  to  deadi.  Anoth- 
er man,  tending  a  coal-pit,  became  partially  intoxicated,  fell  asleep 
on  some  straw,  and  was  burnt  to  death.  These  events  occasioned 
the  delivery  of  two  discourses,  viz.  one  on  the  wretchedness  of  in- 
temperate men,  and  another  on  the  duty  of  preventing  sober  men 
from  becoming  intemperate  ;  that,  when  the  present  race  of  drunk- 
ards should  be  removed,  the  whole  land  might  be  free.  The  means 
of  doing  this,  the  sure  means,  and  the  only  means,  were  shown  to 
be,  abstinence  from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  This  was 
shown,  by  facts,  to  be  both  practicable  and  expedient,  and  was  urged 
as  the  indispensable  duty  of  all  men ;  a  duty  which  they  owed 
to  God,  to  themselves,  their  children,  their  country,  and  the 
world. 

This  doctrine  appeared  to  many  to  be  strange ;  excited  great  at- 
tention, occasioned  much  conversation,  and,  through  the  blessing  of 
the  Lord,  produced  great  results.  It  was  again  and  again  enforced. 
A  conviction  of  the  duty  of  abstinence  was  fastened  on  many  con- 
sciences ;  and  it  became  evident  from  facts,  that  this  doctrine  is 
adapted  to  commend  itself  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God. 

A  man,  for  instance,  distinguished  for  sobriety  and  influence,  said, 
"  When  I  first  heard  the  doctrine  of  abstinence,  I  did  not  believe  it. 
I  was  sorry  to  hear  it.  I  thought  it  was  going  so  much  too  far,  that 
it  would  only  do  hurt.  I  was  opposed  to  intemperance  as  much  as  any 
one,  but  I  thought  that  the  temperate  use  of  ardent  spirit  was,  for 
men  who  labor,  in  hot  weather,  necessary.  I  did  not  believe  that 
men  could  work  without.  My  father  used  it :  though  I  recollect, 
when  I  was  about  fourteen  years  old,  two  gallons  would  carry  him 
and  his  workmen  through  all  the  business  of  the  season ;  and  when 
I  left  him  at  twenty-one,  it  took  twelve  or  fifteen  gallons  to  do  the 
same  work.     However,  I  began  in  the  same  way,  and  continued, 


8  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

till  I  heard  that  sermon.  And  1  then  thought,  that  the  man  who 
could  say,  that  all  men,  in  all  kinds  of  business,  would  be  better  with- 
out the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  did  not  understand  the  subject.  How- 
ever, I  thought  of  it  as  I  went  home — I  thought  of  it  the  next  day — 
it  kept  in  my  mind ;  and,  seeing  its  awful  effects  among  the  poor,  I 
said  to  myself,  If  it  is  true  that  men  can  live  without,  and  would  be 
better  without,  it  would  be  a  great  improvement,  and  would  save 
property,  character,  life  and  soul,  to  a  great  amount.  So  I  resolved 
to  know  whether  it  is  true  or  not.  I  resolved,  that  I  would  not 
use  any  myself  for  three  months.  I  said  nothing,  however,  to  others, 
lest  they  should  think  I  was  becoming  wild ;  but  before  the  close  of 
three  months,  I  began  to  suspect  that  it  is  true.  I  certainly  felt  better 
than  before ;  and  I  resolved  to  try  it  three  months  more.  At  the 
end  of  six  months,  I  was  as  perfectly  satisfied  as  I  ever  was  of  any 
thing,  that  the  idea  which  I  had,  and  which  most  men  have,  that 
the  use  of  spirit  does  good,  is  a  delusion.  O,"  said  he,  "  it  is  one  of 
the  greatest  delusions  under  which  sober  men  ever  were.  I  after- 
wards mentioned  it  to  my  workmen,  and  we  agreed  that  we  would 
not  use  any  for  a  year.  And  now,  for  almost  two  years,  we  have 
not  used  a  drop ;  and  we  are  all  persuaded,  that  we  are  vastly  bet- 
ter without  it." 

Others  tried  it,  and  came  to  the  same  result.  All  who  made  the 
experiment  were  satisfied  that  men  in  all  kinds  of  business  are  bet- 
ter without  it. 

And  the  question  arose,  Who  knows,  should  the  subject  be  pre- 
sented kindly  and  plainly  throughout  the  United  States — be  illus- 
trated by  facts,  and  pressed  on  the  conscience — but  that  it  may, 
through  the  divine  blessing,  change  the  habits  of  the  nation  ?  Who 
knows,  but  that  our  children,  and  children's  children,  may  be  raised 
up  free  from  this  abomination,  to  be  instrumental  in  perpetuating 
the  blessings  of  free  institutions — to  be  themselves  made  free  by 
the  Son  of  God — and  to  spread  the  light  and  glory  of  that  freedom 
round  the  globe  ? 

In  1825,  the  present  Corresponding  Secretary  wrote  the  Tract 
No.  176  of  the  American  Tract  Society's  series,  entitled  "The 
well-conducted  Farm,"  exhibiting  the  result  of  an  experiment 
made  by  an  original  member  of  this  Committee,  upon  an  extensive 
farming  establishment,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  Mass.  This 
tract  was  the  same  year  printed,  and  circulated  extensively  through 
the  country. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  abstinence,  which 
were  shown  to  have  resulted  to  the  workmen,  viz.  They  had  a 
better  appetite  for  food,  and  were  more  nourished  by  it,  than  be- 
fore. They  had  greater  vigor  of  body  and  mind  ;  they  performed 
more  labor,  with  greater  ease,  and  were  free  from  many  of  the 
diseases  to  which  they  were  before  accustomed.     They  accumu- 


FOURTH    REPORT. 1831.  9 

lated  more  property,  were  more  happy,  and  were  more  useful  to 
themselves  and  others. 

The  following  were  some  of  the  advantages  of  abstinence  which 
were  shown  to  have  resulted  to  their  employer : — The  men  did 
more  work,  and  in  a  better  manner.  It  was  easier  to  have  a  place 
for  every  thing,  and  to  have  every  thing  in  its  place.  The  walls 
and  fences  were  kept  in  good  repair  without  direction  from  the 
owner.  The  cattle  did  not,  as  before,  break  in  and  destroy  the 
crops.  The  farm  was  more  productive,  and  the  fruits  were  gath- 
ered in  better  season.  The  tools  were  kept  in  better  order ;  the 
barns  exhibited  greater  neatness ;  the  cattle  and  horses  were  more 
kind — and  showed,  in  various  ways,  the  benefits  of  abstinence  from 
strong  drink.  The  men  were  more  respectful  and  uniform  in  their 
deportment ;  were  more  contented  with  their  living  ;  more  desirous 
of  being  present  at  morning  and  evening  family  devotion  ;  were  more 
attentive  at  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath,  and  were  more  interest- 
ed in  the  welfare  of  all  around  them. 

It  was  then  shown  that,  should  all  the  people  of  the  United 
States  adopt  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits, 
the  following  would  be  some  of  the  beneficial  results,  viz. 

They  would  enjoy  better  health,  be  able  to  accomplish  more 
business,  and  live  to  a  greater  age.  None  of  them  would  ever  be- 
come intemperate ;  and  as  soon  as  the  present  drunkards  should  be 
dead,  intemperance  would  be  done  away.*  They  would  save  a  vast 
amount  of  property  ;  remove  one  of  the  principal  causes  of  pauper- 
ism and  crime,  disease,  insanity  and  death  ;  one  of  the  greatest 
dangers  to  our  free  institutions,  and  one  of  the  mightiest  obstructions 
to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  all  the  means  of  grace ;  and 
would  greatly  increase  the  prospect  of  their  happiness  and  use- 
fulness, and  that  of  their  children,  for  both  worlds.f 

The  same  year,  the  following  sentiments  were  delivered  by  John 
Ware,  M.  D.,  before  the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppression 

of  Intemperance-! 

"  It  is  an  impression  almost  universal  among  the  laboring  classes, 
that  ardent  spirits,  if  not  absolutely  necessary,  are,  at  least,  of  great 
use  and  importance,  as  a  support  during  labor ;  and  that,  moderately 
used,  they  are  a  salutary,  or,  at  least,  an  innocent  stimulus.  But  no 
impression  can  be  more  unfounded,  no  opinion  more  fatally  false, 
than  that  which  attributes  to  spirituous  liquors  any  power  of  promot- 
ing bodily  strength,  or  supporting  the  system  under  labor  or  fatigue. 
Experience  has  in  all  quarters  most  abundantly  proved  the  contrary. 
None  labor  so  constantly,  so  cheerfully  and  with  so  little  exhaus- 
tion, as  those  who  entirely  abstain ;  none  endure  so  well  hardships 
and  exposure,  the  inclemency  of  weather,  and  the  vicissitude  of 
season." 

*  This,  and  all  similar  statements  are  made  on  the  supposition  that  they  do  not 
substitute  or  use  alcohol  in  any  other  form. 

t  Appendix,  C.  I  Appendix,  D. 


SO  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY-. 

Similar  testimonies  began  to  multiply.  The  evils  of  using,  and 
the  benefits  of  abstaining  from  ardent  spirit,  became  more  and  more 
conspicuous ;  and  also  the  necessity,  as  well  as  the  encouragement, 
t:>  make  more  systematic,  general  and  persevering  efforts  on  the 
subject.  Individuals  not  only  abstained,  but,  in  some  cases,  agreed 
together,  that  they  would  not  use  or  furnish  to  others  that  destruc- 
tive posion.  But  there  was  no  system,  no  plan  of  operation,  to 
cause  such  a  union  to  become  universal  ;  and  it  was  evident  that, 
unless  something  more  universal,  efficacious  and  persevering  should 
be  done,  our  country  would  be  ruined  ;  the  gospel  would  never  have 
its  legitimate  influence  over  the  human  mind,  and  the  reign  of  dark- 
ness and  sin  would  be  perpetuated  to  the  end  of  time.  Past  efforts, 
though  they  had  on  some  spots,  and  in  some  cases,  done  good, 
had  not  struck  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  Their  object  was,  to  regu- 
late the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  not  to  abolish  it.  Those  who  made 
them  admitted,  and  most  of  them  practised,  the  fundamental  error, 
that  men  in  health  might,  without  injury,  and,  of  course,  without 
sin,  use  the  poison,  if  they  did  not  use  too  much.  This  was  the 
case  with  members  of  Societies  for  the  Suppression  of  Intem- 
perance. Thus,  while  they  only  retarded  the  growth,  or  clipped  off 
a  few  of  the  top  twigs  of  this  poisonous  tree,  the  roots  were  con- 
stantly nourished,  and  daily  struck  deeper  and  deeper.  While  the 
friends  of  temperance  were  reforming  one  old  drunkard,  their  own 
habits,  if  followed,  would  make  a  hundred  new  ones.  They  were, 
indeed,  sounding  the  alarm,  but  were  treading  in  the  footsteps  of 
the  lost ;  denouncing  intemperance,  and  encouraging  the  use  of 
strong  drink ;  bewailing  the  effect,  and  perpetuating  the  cause ; 
warning  men  not  to  be  drunken,  and  urging  them  to  drink.  Many 
were  enraged,  almost  to  madness,  at  those  who  represented  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit  to  be  a  sin ;  and,  though  they  had  followed  a 
promising  son  to  the  drunkard's  grave,  and  were  expecting  soon  to 
follow  another,  and  another,  they  would  denounce  as  enthusiasts,  and 
treat  as  enemies,  those  who  urged  them  not  to  drink. 

The  husband,  who  had  lost  his  wife  by  intemperance,  would,  for 
the  sake  of  money,  furnish  that  which  killed  her  to  all  who  would 
purchase,  and  even  give  it,  as  a  token  of  kindness,  to  his  nearest 
friends.  The  wife,  who  had  seen  her  husband  die  by  this  poison, 
would  use  it  herself,  and  give  it  daily  to  her  only  son. 

And  it  was  perfectly  evident  that,  unless  a  new  movement  could 
be  started,  on  a  new  plan,  and  one  which  should  be  commensurate, 
in  place  and  time,  with  the  evil, — one  which  should  strike  it  at  the 
root,  and  exterminate  it, — drunkenness  could  never  be  done  away. 
The  people  would  never  become  "  all  righteous,"  nor  the  day  of 
millennial  glory  ever  break  on  the  world. 

A  meeting  of  a  few  individuals  was  therefore  called,  to  consider 
the  following  question,  viz. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  11 

"  What  shall  be  done  to  banish  intemperance  from  the  United 
States?" 

After  prayer  for  divine  guidance,  and  consultation  on  the  sub- 
ject, the  result  was,  a  determination  to  attempt  the  formation  of  an 
American  Temperance  Society,  whose  grand  principle  should 
be,  abstinence  from  strong  drink  ;  and  its  object,  by  light  and  love, 
to  change  the  habits  of  the  nation,  with  regard  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors.  Some  of  the  reasons  of  this  determination 
were, 

1 .  Ardent  spirit,  which  is  one  of  the  principal  means  of  drunk- 
enness, is  not  needful,  and  the  use  of  it  is,  to  men  in  health,  always 
injurious. 

2.  It  is  adapted  to  form  intemperate  appetites ;  and  while  it  is 
continued,  the  evils  of  intemperance  can  never  be  done  away. 

3.  The  use  of  this  liquor  is  causing  a  general  deterioration  of 
body  and  mind ;  which,  if  the  cause  is  continued,  will  continue  to 
increase. 

4.  To  remove  the  evils,  we  must  remove  the  cause ;  and  to 
remove  the  cause,  efforts  must  be  commensurate  with  the  evil,  and 
be  continued  till  it  is  eradicated. 

5.  We  never  know  what  we  can  do  by  wise,  united,  and  perse- 
vering efforts,  in  a  good  cause,  till  we  try. 

6.  If  we  do  not  try  to  remove  the  evils  of  intemperance,  we 
cannot  free  ourselves  from  the  guilt  of  its  effects. 

A  correspondence  was  therefore  opened,  and  a  meeting  of  men, 
of  various  Christian  denominations,  holden  in  Boston,  January  10, 
1826. 

Hon.  George  Odiorne  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Rev.  William 
Jenks,  D.  D.,  chosen  clerk. 

The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  Timothy 
Merritt,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church ;  and  after  consulta- 
tion, the  following  resolutions  were  introduced  by  Jeremiah  Evarts, 
Esq.,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions,  and  adopted,  viz. 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  that  more  systematic  and 
more  vigorous  efforts  be  made  by  the  Christian  public  to  restrain  and 
prevent  the  intemperate  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

"  2.  That  an  individual  of  acknowledged  talents,  piety,  industry 
and  sound  judgment,  should  be  selected  and  employed  as  a  perma- 
nent agent,  to  spend  his  time,  and  use  his  best  exertions  for  the 
suppression  and  prevention  of  the  intemperate  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors." 

A  committee  was  then  appointed  to  prepare  a  constitution,  and 
the  meeting  was  adjourned  to  February  13th,  1826. 

At  the  adjourned  meeting,  a  Constitution  was  presented  and 
adopted,  and  the  following  persons  were  chosen  by  the  members  of 
the  meeting,  at  the  commencement,  to  compose  the  Society,  viz. 


12  AMERICAN"    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D. ;  Rev.  William  Jenks,  D.  D. ;  Rev. 
Justin  Edwards ;  Rev.  Warren  Fay ;  Rev.  Benjamin  B.  Wisner  j 
Rev.  Francis  Wayland ;  Rev.  Timothy  Merritt ;  Hon.  Marcus  Mor- 
ton ;  Hon.  Samuel  Hubbard ;  Hon.  William  Reed  ;  Hon.  George 
Odiorne ;  John  Tappan,  Esq. ;  William  Ropes,  Esq. ;  James  P. 
Chaplin,  M.  D. ;   S.  V.  S.  Wilder,  Esq. ;  and  Enoch  Hale,  M.  D. 

The  Hon.  Heman  Lincoln,  of  the  Baptist  church,  then  offered 
the  following  resolution,  which  was  unanimously  adopted,  viz. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  gentlemen  composing  this  meeting  pledge 
themselves  to  the  American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Temper- 
ance, that  they  will  use  all  their  exertions  in  carrying  into  effect 
the  benevolent  plans  of  the  Society." 

The  Society  then  held  its  first  meeting,  and  chose  the  following 
officers,  viz. 

Hon.  Marcus  Morton,  President ;  Hon.  Samuel  Hubbard,  Vice- 
President;  William  Ropes,  Esq.,  Treasurer;  John  Tappan,  Esq., 
Auditor. 

Executive  Committee — Rev.  Leonard  Woods,  D.  D. ;  Rev.  Jus- 
tin Edwards  ;  John  Tappan,  Esq. ;  Hon.  George  Odiorne,  and  S.  V. 
S.  Wilder,  Esq. 

On  the  12th  of  March  succeeding,  the  Society  met,  and  chose 
eighty-four  men,  from  the  Northern,  and  Middle  States,  as  addi- 
tional members  of  the  Society. 

The  Executive  Committee  then  presented,  through  the  press,  the 
following  address  to  the  public : — 

"  In  view  of  the  transactions  above  mentioned,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  Constitution  of  The  American  Society  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Temperance,  the  Executive  Committee  solicit  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Christian  community  to  a  few  remarks  relative  to  the 
important  subject  here  presented  before  them. 

"The  evils  resulting  from  an  improper  use  of  intoxicating  liquors 
have  become  so  extensive  and  desolating,  as  to  call  for  the  im- 
mediate, vigorous  and  persevering  efforts  of  every  philanthropist, 
patriot,  and  Christian.  The  number  of  lives  annually  destroyed  by 
this  vice,  in  our  own  country,  is  thought  to  be  more  than  thirty 
thousand ;  and  the  number  of  persons  who  are  diseased,  distressed 
and  impoverished  by  it,  to  be  more  than  two  hundred  thousand. 
Many  of  them  are  not  only  useless,  but  a  burden  and  a  nuisance  to 
society. 

"  These  liquors,  it  is  calculated,  cost  the  inhabitants  of  this  country 
annually  more  than  forty  millions  of  dollars ;  and  the  pauperism 
occasioned  by  the  improper  use  of  them,  (taking  the  common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts  as  an  example,)  costs  them  upwards  of 
twelve  millions;  making  an  annual  expense  of  more  than  fifty 
millions  of  dollars. 

"  Out  often  hundred  and  sixty-one  cases  of  criminal  prosecutions 


FOURTH    REPORT.— 1831.  13 

in  the  year  1820,  before  the  Court  of  Sessions  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  more  than  eight  hundred  are  stated  to  have  been  connected 
with  intemperance.  And  so  it  is  in  all  our  principal  cities.  More 
than  three  quarters  of  the  crimes  committed  in  the  country  are 
probably  occasioned  by  this  hateful  vice.  And  if  we  add  to 
these  the  loss  of  time  which  it  occasions,  the  loss  of  business, 
the  loss  of  improvement,  the  loss  of  character,  and  the  loss  of 
happiness  for  time  and  for  eternity,  the  evil  swells  to  an  over- 
whelming magnitude.  The  guilt  and  wretchedness  resulting  from 
it  surpass  all  finite  conception.  Scarcely  any  thing  has  a  more 
powerful  and  fatal  efficacy  to  weaken,  pollute,  and  debase  the 
human  mind.  It  palsies  every  effort  for  improvement,  hinders  the 
success  of  the  gospel,  and  prevents  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of 
Christ.  It  destroys,  by  hundreds  and  thousands,  both  the  bodies 
and  souls  of  men ;  cutting  them  off  from  the  possibility  of  enjoy- 
ment, and  plunging  them  into  endless  darkness  and  wo. 

"  No  sooner  is  a  person  brought  under  the  power  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  than  he  seems  to  be  proof  against  the  influence  of  all  the 
means  of  reformation.  If,  at  any  time,  the  truth  gains  access  to  his 
mind,  and  impresses  his  heart,  by  a  few  draughts  of  this  fatal 
poison,  the  impression  is  almost  sure  to  be  effaced.  Hence  the 
notorious  and  alarming  fact,  that  a  person  addicted  to  this  vice  is 
seldom  renewed  in  the  temper  of  his  mind,  or  even  reformed  as  to 
his  outward  character.  If  a  single  instance  of  the  kind  occurs,  it 
is  so  uncommon,  that  it  quickly  becomes  the  subject  of  remark 
through  a  neighborhood,  and  often  over  a  large  extent  of  country, 
and  for  years  is  mentioned  as  an  extraordinary  event.  Most 
persons  given  to  intemperance,  proceed  from  one  degree  of 
wickedness  to  another,  till,  having  been  often  reproved,  and 
hardened  their  necks,  they  bring  sudden  and  remediless  destruction 
upon  themselves.  And  they  destroy  not  only  themselves,  but  ? 
multitude  of  others.  The  intemperance  of  a  father  has  extended 
to  three,  four,  five,  and  even  to  seven  of  his  children.  The  in- 
temperance of  a  family  has  extended  its  contagion  through  a 
neighborhood,  and  its  baleful  effects  have  been  felt  by  numerous 
individuals  and  families.  Many  persons,  in  all  classes  of  society, 
have  been  destroyed  by  this  vice ;  and  no  one  is  free  from  dan- 
ger. A  father  has  no  security  that  his  children  will  not  die 
drunkards;  and  no  security  that  the  evil  will  not  be  extended, 
through  them,  to  future  generations.  And  with  the  continuance 
of  the  present  feelings  and  habits  of  the  community,  there  is  no 
prospect  that  the  evil  will  be  lessened,  and  no  possibility  that  it  will 
be  done  away.  All  persons,  especially  the  young,  must  continue 
to  be  exposed.  Dangers  meet  them  in  the  street ;  overtake  them 
in  business  ;  follow  them  to  their  dwellings ;  attend  them  in  the 
private  interview,  and  in  the  social  circle,  and  assail  them  wherever 
2 


14  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

they  go ;  and  without  a  change  in  the  sentiments  and  practices 
of  the  community,  the  evil  must  continue  to  increase,  till  the 
animating  prospects  of  this  great  and  mighty  republic  are  darkened, 
its  precious  institutions  ruined,  and  thousands  and  millions  of  its 
population  borne  on  a  current  of  liquid  fire  to  a  world  of  wo. 

"  The  American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Temper- 
ance have,  therefore,  after  deliberate  and  devout  attention  to  the 
subject,  resolved,  in  the  suength  of  the  Lord,  and  with  a  view  to 
the  account  which  they  must  render  to  him  for  the  influence  they 
exert  in  the  world,  to  make  a  vigorous,  united,  and  persevering 
effort  to  produce  a  change  of  public  sentiment  and  practice  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

"  For  this  purpose,  they  deem  it  of  primary  importance  that  they 
should  obtain  an  adequate  fund  for  the  support  of  a  man  of  suitable 
qualifications,  in  the  office  of  Secretary,  who  shall  devote  himself  to 
the  service  of  the  Society,  and,  in  the  various  ways  pointed  out  in 
the  Constitution,  labor  to  promote  its  object. 

"  In  attempting  to  procure  this  fund,  the  Committee  cheerfully 
make  their  appeal  to  men  of  known  and  expansive  benevolence, 
who  are  blessed  with  property,  and  are  friends  to  Him,  who  was 
rich,  yet,  for  our  sakes,  became  poor,  that  we,  through  his  poverty, 
might  be  rich, — and  request  them,  from  love  to  Him  and  to  their 
fellow  men,  to  take  into  serious  consideration  the  magnitude  of  the 
evil  which  this  Society  aims  to  prevent,  and  the  immeasurable  good 
which  it  aims  to  secure,  and  to  furnish  the  necessary  means.  If  a 
man  of  the  right  character  may  be  wholly  and  permanently  devoted 
to  this  object,  with  the  aid  which  he  may  receive  from  good  men, 
throughout  the  country,  the  Committee  are  confident  that,  with  the 
divine  blessing,  a  system  of  general  and  powerful  cooperation  may 
be  formed,  and  that  a  change  may  in  a  short  time  be  effected, 
which  will  save  an  incalculable  amount  of  property,  and  vast  multi- 
tudes of  valuable  lives — a  change  which  will  be  connected  with  the 
highest  prosperity  of  our  country,  and  with  the  eternal  salvation 
of  millions  of  our  fellow  men. 

"  And  may  God  Almighty  crown  with  glorious  success  this  and 
every  other  effort  to  do  good,  so  that  Christian  morality,  and  piety, 
and  happiness,  may  universally  prevail. 

L.  WOODS,  -^ 

J.EDWARDS,         /     „ 
J.TAPPAN,  {Executive 

G.  ODIORNE,  (  Committee. 

S.  V.  S.  WILDER,  ) 
"  Boston,  March,  1826." 

On  the  1 6th  of  January,  Rev.  Calvin  Chapin,  D.  D.,  ofWethersfield, 
Conn.,  commenced  the  publication  of  a  series  of  thirty-three  num- 
bers, in  the  Connecticut  Observer,  entitled  "  The  Infallible  An- 
tidote."    His  motto  was, "  Entire  abstinence  from  ardent  spirits  is 


FOURTH    REPORT.— 1831.  15 

the  only  certain  preventive  of  intemperance."  This  was  strikingly 
illustrated  in  the  various  numbers,  and  strongly  urged  upon  all  as 
an  indispensable  duty.  He  had  himself,  as  had  a  number  of 
others,  practised  it  for  many  years,  and  urged  it  as  the  duty  of  all 
men. 

In  April,  1826,  the  National  Philanthropist,  a  weekly  paper,  de- 
voted to  the  cause  of  temperance,  was  established,  in  Boston,  by 
the  Rev.  William  Collier.  Its  motto  was,  "  Temperate  drinking  is 
the  downhill  road  to  intemperance."  This  paper  has  been  con- 
tinued, and,  with  some  modifications,  is  now  published  by  Messrs. 
Goodell  and  Crandall,  in  New  York.  It  is  an  able  and  efficient  pa- 
per, and,  under  its  successive  editors,  has  been  a  valuable  auxiliary 
to  the  cause. 

In  September  of  the  same  year,  an  association  of  more  than  fifty 
heads  of  families,  and  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  young  men, 
was  formed  in  Andover,  Mass.,  on  the  plan  of  abstinence,  with  the 
following  constitution,  viz. 

"  Believing  that  the  use  of  Intoxicating  liquors  is,  for  persons  in 
health,  not  only  unnecessary,  but  hurtful ;  that  it  is  the  cause  of 
forming  intemperate  appetites  and  habits  ;  and  that,  while  it  is  con- 
tinued, the  evils  of  intemperance  can  never  be  prevented, — 

"  Therefore,  we,  the  subscribers,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  our 
own  welfare,  and  that  of  the  community,  agree  that  we  will  abstain 
from  the  use  of  distilled  spirits,  except  as  a  medicine  in  case  of  bod- 
ily infirmity  ;  that  we  will  not  allow  the  use  of  them  in  our  fami- 
lies, nor  provide  them  for  the  entertainment  of  our  friends,  or  for 
persons  in  our  employment ;  and  that,  in  all  suitable  ways,  we  will 
discountenance  the  use  of  them  in  the  community. 

Andover,  Mass.,  Se]>t.,  1826." 

In  Januarv,  1827,  the  present  Corresponding  Secretary  visited  Bos- 
ton, and  commenced  an  effort  to  obtain  means  for  the  support  of  a  per- 
manent agent.  At  the  first  meeting,  although  the  evening  was  ex- 
ceedingly stormy,  the  amount  subscribed  was  more  than  $3500. 
At  the  second  meeting,  the  amount  subscribed  was  more  than 
$1200;  and  at  the  third  meeting,  more  than  $700.  In  Salem,, 
Newburyport,  Andover,  and  Northampton,  were  obtained  upwards. 
of  $2000  more. 

As  the  pastoral  duties  of  the  Secretary  did  not  permit  of  his  con- 
tinuing his  agency,  the  Committee  appointed  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Hewit,  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  who  was  known  to  have  preached  and 
acted  successfully  on  this  subject,  who  spent  twenty  weeks  in  the 
service  of  the  Society.  He  visited  various  places  in  Massac husetts„ 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania ;  preach- 
ed  on  the  subject,  addressed  public  bodies,  and  in  various  ways 
promoted  successfully  the  great  and  good  cause. 


16  AMERICAN    TEMPERANoil    bOCIfcTT. 

In  September  of  the  same  year,  the  present  Secretary  was  agaire 
appointed  to  an  agency  of  three  months,  and  visited  various  places 
in  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut. 

The  prospect  continued  to  brighten,  and  the  evidence  to  increase 
that  the  work  was  of  God.  Numbers  were  found  who  had  been  led, 
within  a  few  years,  from  their  own  reflections,  without  concert,  in 
view  of  what  they  saw,  to  the  conclusion,  that  they  could  not  con- 
tinue to  use  ardent  spirit,  or  to  furnish  it  for  the  use  of  others,  with- 
out the  commission  of  sin.  These  were  evidences  which  God  had 
prepared,  when  tire  duty  of  abstinence  was  preached,  to  rise  up 
and  say,  "  We  have  felt  it ;"  and  when  the  utility  of  abstinence 
was  exhibited,  to  say,  "  It  is  true ;  we  have  tried  it,  and  found  it 
so."  This  was  said  by  men  in  various  kinds  of  business,  and  in 
all  conditions  of  life,  and  it  gave  a  powerful  impulse  to  the  cause. 
"I  wish,"  said  an  old  man,  as  he  rose  at  the  close  of  a  temperance 
meeting,  "  to  say  to  the  people,  before  they  go  away,  that  all  which 
they  have  heard  with  regard  to  the  utility  of  abstinence  from  ardent 
spirit  is  true.  1  know  it  is  true.  I  have  tried  it.  More  than  a 
hundred  tons  of  hay  I  have  gathered  this  summer  off  my  own  farm, 
and  not  a  man  in  my  employment  has  used  a  drop.  I  never  got 
through  the  business  of  a  season  before  without  having  some  of  my 
men  sick.  In  the  hot  days  of  haying  and  harvesting,  one  was  taken 
off  a  day,  another  a  week,  and  so  on.  But  this  summer,  not  a  man 
has  lost  a  meal  of  victuals  during  the  season.  They  have  not 
broken  the  tools,  as  they  used  to ;  they  have  not  quarrelled  among 
themselves,  as  they  used  to ;  and  I  finished  the  business  of  the  sea- 
son much  sooner  than  my  neighbors  who  kept  on  in  the  old  way, 
and  much  better  than  ever  before.    Oh !  it  is  a  great  improvement." 

In  the  course  of  the  year,  were  published  Kittredge's  First  Address, 
Dr.  Mussey's  Address  before  the  Medical  Convention  of  New 
Hampshire,  Mr.  Palfrey's  Sermons,  and  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermons  on 
the  Nature,  Signs,  Evils,  and  Remedy  of  Intemperance ;  and  they 
were  all  powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  cause.* 

To  show  the  state  of  the  public  mind  at  this  period,  we  present 
a  few  extracts  from  the  publications  of  that  year. 

The  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Intemperance, 
in  their  Annual  Report,  Nov.,  1827,  say,  "  It  is  becoming  unfashion- 
able to  drink  ardent  spirits  in  decent  company ;  and  it  is  no  longer 
considered  a  necessary  mark  of  hospitality  to  offer  them.  People 
are  beginning  to  yield  to  the  conviction  that  they  are  injurious  to 
health,  even  when  used  in  moderation.     It  is  presumed  that  the  im- 

*  Dr.  Beecher's  Sermons  were  preached  the  year  before,  at  Litchfield,  Conn. 
This  fact,  however,  was  not  know  n  to  those  who  formed  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society,  thus  showing  that  different  minds,  in  distant  places,  without  con> 
cert,  were  taking  substantially  the  same  views  of  this  great  subject.-)- 
t  Af  pencix,  E. 


FOURTH  REPORT. — 1831.  17 

provement  which  has  begun  will  go  on,  and  they  will  be  at  length 
universally  banished.  It  seems  now  to  be  generally  admitted  by 
those  who  have  had  an  opportunity  for  observation,  or  have  made 
themselves  acquainted  with  the  various  facts,  which  have  been  col- 
lected with  regard  to  intemperance,  that  we  are  to  attribute  much  of 
the  prevalence  of  immoderate  drinking  to  erroneous  opinions  and  prac- 
tices of  society,  with  regard  to  moderate  drinking.  No  man  probably 
ever  became  at  once  a  drunkard.  Drunkards  have  ?ll  once  been 
moderate  drinkers,  and  have  only  gradually  and  insensibly  become 
immoderate  drinkers.  It  would  seem,  then,  that  there  must  be  some- 
thing wrong  in  this  habit  of  moderate  drinking,  since  it  leads,  in  so 
large  a  proportion  of  cases,  to  so  deplorable  a  result." 

They  also  passed  the  following  resolutions,  viz  : — 

"1.  Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  there  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  that  ardent  spirits  are  not  necessary  as  a  refresh- 
ment or  a  support  to  the  strength  during  labor,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
are  absolutely  injurious  to  the  health  ;  that  to  the  general  moderate 
use  of  them  is  to  be  chiefly  attributed  the  prevalent  habit  of  in- 
temperance ;  and  that  entire  abstinence  from  their  use,  except 
when  prescribed  as  medicines,  be  recommended  to  all  classes  of 
society. 

"2.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  ship-owners,  masters 
of  vessels,  farmers,  mechanics,  proprietors  and  superintendents  of 
manufacturing  establishments,  and  all  others  having  the  care  of 
young  persons  when  first  entering  upon  laborious  occupations,  to 
endeavor  to  induce  those  under  their  charge  to  form  the  habit  of 
labor  without  any  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

"  3.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  all  having  the  charge 
of  the  education  of  the  young,  to  endeavor  to  produce  upon  their 
minds  a  strong  impression  of  the  dangerous  tendency  of  even  a 
moderate  use  of  ardent  spirits." 

The  conviction  had  now  become  extensive,  that  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit  is  wrong.  Many  had  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  no  man  in 
health,  who  understands  its  nature  and  effects,  can  continue  to  use 
it  as  an  article  of  luxury  or  diet,  or  to  traffic  in  it,  without  guilt. 

Kittredge,in  his  Address,  said,  "  Ardent  spirits  are  said  to  be  useful 
and  necessary.  It  is  false.  It  is  nothing  but  the  apology  that  the 
love  of  them  renders  for  their  use.  There  are  only  two  cases  in 
which,  Dr.  Rush  says,  they  can  be  administered  without  injury ; 
and  those  are  cases  of  persons  likely  to  perish,  and  where  substi- 
tutes may  be  applied  of  equal  effect.  What  rational  man  would  use 
them  for  the  sake  of  these  two  possible  cases?  As  well  might  he 
introduce  rattlesnakes  among  his  children,  because  their  oil  is 
good  in  diseases  with  which  they  may  possibly  be  afflicted.  What! 
drink  none  ?  Yes — I  say,  Drink  none.  One  gallon  for  this  town  is 
2* 


18  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    S0CIET?. 

just  four  quarts  too  much.  In  addition  to  the  miseries  of  debt  and 
poverty,  which  they  entail  upon  a  community,  they  are  the  parent 
of  one  half  the  diseases  that  prevail,  and  one  half  the  crimes  that 
are  committed.  It  is  ardent  spirits  that  fill  our  poor-houses  and 
our  jails ;  our  penitentiaries,  mad-houses,  and  state  prisons.  It  is  ar- 
dent spirits  that  furnish  victims  for  the  gallows.  They  are  the 
greatest  curse  that  God  ever  inflicted  on  the  world,  and  may  well  be 
called  the  seven  vials  of  his  wrath.  They  are  more  ciestrnctive  in 
their  consequences  than  war,  plague,  pestilence  or  famine,  yea,  than 
all  combined.  They  are  slow  in  their  march,  hut  sure  in  their  grasp. 
They  seize  not  only  on  the  natural,  but  the  moral  man.  They  con- 
sign the  body  to  the  tomb,  and  the  soul  to  hell.  But  have  not  ar- 
dent spirits  one  good  quality,  one  redeeming  virtue?  None,  I  say, 
none.  There  is  nothing,  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  virtue,  to  se- 
cure them  from  universal  and  everlasting  execration.  The  parent 
should  instil  into  his  children  a  hatred  of  ardent  spirits  as  much  as 
he  does  of  falsehood  and  theft.  He  should  no  more  suffer  his  chil- 
dren to  drink  a  little,  than  he  does  to  lie  a  little,  and  to  steal  a  little. 
No  longer  use  that  which  is  the  source  of  infinite  mischief,  without 
one  redeeming  benefit ;  which  has  entailed  upon  you,  upon  your 
children,  and  upon  society,  woes  unnumbered  and  unutterable. 
Banish  it  from  your  houses.  It  can  be  done.  You  have  only  to 
will,  and  it  is  effected.  Use  it  not  at  home.  Let  it  never  be  found 
to  pollute  your  dwellings.  Give  it  not  to  your  friends  or  your 
workmen.  Touch  it  not  yourselves,  and  suffer  not  your  children 
to  touch  it.  And  let  it  be  a  part  of  your  morning  and  evening 
prayer,  that  you  and  your  children  may  be  saved  from  intemper- 
ance, as  much  as  from  famine,  from  sickness  and  death." 

Dr.  Beecher,  in  his  Sermons,  said,  "  The  traffic  in  ardent  spirits 
is  wrong,  and  should  be  abandoned  as  a  great  national  evil.  The 
amount  of  suffering  and  mortality,  inseparable  from  the  commerce 
in  ardent  spirits,  renders  them  an  unlawful  article  of  trade.  The 
commerce  in  ardent  spirits,  which  produces  no  good,  and  produces 
a  certain  and  an  immense  amount  of  evil,  must  be  regarded  as  an 
unlawful  commerce,  and  ought,  upon  every  principle  of  humanity, 
patriotism,  conscience,  and  religion,  to  be  abandoned  and  pro- 
scribed. It  seems  to  be  a  manifest  violation  of  the  command,  '  Thou 
shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,'  and  of  various  other  evan- 
gelical precepts. 

"  No  man  can  act  in  the  spirit  of  impartial  love  to  his  neighbor, 
who,  for  his  own  personal  emolument,  inflicts  on  him  great  and  ir- 
reparable evil ;  for  love  worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor.  Love  will 
not  burn  a  neighbor's  house,  or  poison  his  food,  or  blast  his  reputa- 
tion, or  destroy  his  soul.  But  the  commerce  in  ardent  spirits  does 
all  this  inevitably  and  often.  Property,  reputation,  health,  life  and 
salvation  fall  before  it. 


FOURTH    REPORT. 1831.  ][) 

"The  direct  infliction  of  what  is  done  indirectly,  would  subject  a 
man  to  the  ignominy  of  a  public  execution." 

"  It  is  scarcely  a  palliation  of  this  evil,  that  no  man  is  destroyed 
maliciously,  or  with  any  direct  intent  to  kill ;  for  die  certainty  of 
evil  is  as  great  as  if  waters  were  poisoned  which  some  persons 
would  surely  drink,  or  as  if  a  man  should  fire  in  the  dark  upon 
masses  of  human  beings,  where  it  must  be  certain  that  death  woukl 
be  the  consequence  to  some."       *       *       *       * 

"  Can  it  be  denied  that  the  commerce  in  ardent  spirits  makes  a 
fearful  havoc  of  property,  morals  and  life  ?  Does  it  not  shed  blood 
as  really  as  the  sword,  and  more  blood  than  is  shed  by  war  ?  In 
this  point,  none  are  better  witnesses  than  physicians,  and,  according 
to  their  testimony,  intemperance  is  one  of  the  greatest  destroyers 
of  virtue,  health  and  life."       *       *       *       * 

"  The  consideration,  that  those,  to  whose  injury  we  are  accessory 
by  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  are  destroyed  also  by  the  perversion 
of  their  own  free  agency — and  that  the  evil  is  silent,  and  slow-paced 
in  its  march — doubtless  subtracts,  in  no  small  degree,  from  the  keen 
sense  of  accountability  and  crime,  which  would  attend  the  adminis- 
tration of  arsenic,  or  the  taking  of  life  by  the  pistol,  or  the  dagger — • 
as  does  also  the  consideration  that  although  we  may  withhold  the 
cup,  yet,  from  some  other  source,  the  deleterious  potion  will  be 
obtained. 

"  But  all  this  alters  not  the  case.  He  who  deliberately  assists  his 
neighbor  to  destroy  his  life,  is  not  guiltless  because  his  neighbor  is  a 
free  agent  and  is  also  guilty ;  and  he  is  accessory  to  the  crime,  though 
twenty  other  persons  might  have  been  ready  to  commit  the  same  sin  if 
he  had  not  done  it.  Who  would  sell  arsenic  to  his  neighbor,  to  destroy 
himself,  because  he  could  obtain  it  elsewhere  ?  Who  would  sell 
a  dagger  for  the  known  purpose  of  assassination,  because,  if  it 
were  refused,  it  could  be  purchased  in  another  place?  We  are 
accountable  for  our  own  wrong-doing,  and  liable  to  punishment 
at  the  hand  of  God,  as  really  as  if  it  had  been  certain  that  no  one 
would  have  done  the  deed,  if  we  did  not. 

"  The  ungodliness  in  time,  and  the  everlasting  ruin  in  eternity,  in- 
separable from  the  commerce  in  ardent  spirit,  proscribe  it  as  an 
unlawful  article  of  traffic. 

"Who  can  estimate  the  hatred  of  God,  of  his  word  and  worship, 
and  of  his  people,  which  it  occasions?  or  number  the  oaths  and 
blasphemies  it  causes  to  be  uttered  ?  or  the  violations  of  the  Sabbath  r 
the  impurities  and  indecencies,  violence  and  wrong-doing,  which 
it  originates  ?  Howr  many  thousands  dors  it  detain  every  Sabbath- 
day  from  the  house  of  God — cutting  them  off  from  the  means  of 
grace,  and  hardening  them  against  their  efficacy  !  How  broad  is  the 
road  which  intemperance  alone  opens  to  hell,  and  how  thronged 
with  travelers ! "        *       *       *       * 


20  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE,  SOCIETY. 

"  Here  is  an  article  of  commerce  spread  over  the  land,  whose 
effect  is  evil  only,  and  that  continually,  and  which  increases  an 
hundred-fold  the  energies  of  human  depravity,  and  the  hopeless 
victims  of  future  punishment. 

"  Drunkenness  is  a  sin  which  excludes  from  heaven.  The  com- 
merce in  ardent  spirits,  therefore,  productive  only  of  evil  in  time,  fits 
for  destruction,  and  turns  into  hell,  multitudes  which  no  man  can 
number. 

"  I  am  aware  that,  in  the  din  of  business,  and  the  eager  thirst  for 
gain,  the  consequences  of  our  conduct  upon  our  views,  and  the 
future  destiny  of  our  fellow  men,  are  not  apt  to  be  realized,  or  to 
modify  our  course. 

"  But  has  not  God  connected  with  all  lawful  avocations  the  welfare 
of  the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come  ?  And  can  we 
lawfully  amass  property  by  a  course  of  trade  which  fills  the  land 
with  beggars,  and  widows,  and  orphans,  and  crimes  ;  which  peoples 
the  grave-yard  with  premature  mortality,  and  the  world  of  wo  with 
the  victims  of  despair  ?  Could  all  the  forms  of  evil  produced  in  the 
land  by  intemperance  come  upon  us  in  one  horrid  array,  it  would 
appall  the  nation,  and  put  an  end  to  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits. 
If  in  every  dwelling  built  by  blood,  the  stone  from  the  wall  should 
utter  all  the  cries  which  the  bloody  traffic  extorts,  and  the  beam 
out  of  the  timber  should  echo  them  back,  who  would  build  such 
a  house  ? — and  who  would  dwell  in  it  ?  What  if,  in  every  part  of 
the  dwelling,  from  the  cellar  upward,  through  all  the  halls  and 
chambers,  babblings,  and  contentions,  and  voices,  and  groans,  and 
shrieks,  and  wailings,  were  heard,  day  and  night  ?  What  if  the  cold 
blood  oozed  out,  and  stood  in  drops  upon  the  walls,  and,  by  preter- 
natural art,  all  the  ghastly  skulls  and  bones  of  the  victims  destroyed 
by  intemperance,  should  stand  upon  the  walls,  in  horrid  sculpture 
within  and  without  the  building — who  would  rear  such  a  building? 
What  if,  at  eventide,  and  at  midnight,  the  airy  forms  of  men  destroy- 
ed by  intemperance,  were  dimly  seen  haunting  the  distilleries  and 
stores,  where  they  received  their  bane — following  the  track  of  the 
ship  engaged  in  the  commerce — walking  upon  the  waves — flitting 
athwart  the  deck — sitting  upon  the  rigging — and  sending  up  from 
the  hold  within,  and  from  the  waves  without,  groans,  and  loud 
laments,  and  wailings !  Who  would  attend  such  stores  ?  Who 
would  labor  in  such  distilleries?  Who  would  navigate  such 
ships  ? 

"  Oh  !  were  the  sky  over  our  heads  one  great  whispering  gallery, 
bringing  down  about  us  all  the  lamentation  and  wo  which  intemperance 
creates,  and  the  firm  earth  one  sonorous  medium  of  sound,  bringing 
up  around  us,  from  beneath,  the  wailings  of  the  damned,  whom  the 
commeice  in  ardent  spirits  had  sent  thither; — these  tremendous 
realities,  assailing  our  sense,  would  invigorate  our  conscience,  and 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  21 

give  decision  to  our  purpose  of  reformation.  But  these  evils  are  as 
real  as  if  the  stone  did  cry  out  of  the  wall,  and  the  beam  answered 
it ;  as  real  as  if,  day  and  night,  wailings  were  heard  in  every  part 
of  the  dwelling,  and  blood  and  skeletons  were  seen  upon  every 
wall ;  as  real  as  if  the  ghostly  forms  of  departed  victims  flitted 
about  the  ship  as  she  passed  over  the  billows,  and  showed  them- 
selves nightly  about  stores  and  distilleries,  and,  with  unearthly 
voices,  screamed  in  our  ears  their  loud  lament.  They  are  as  real  as 
if  the  sky  over  our  heads  collected  and  brought  down  about  us 
all  the  notes  of  sorrow  in  the  land  ;  and  the  firm  earth  should 
open  a  passage  for  the  wailings  of  despair  to  come  up  from 
beneath." 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  passed  resolutions  in  favor 
of  abstinence,  and  gave  it  as  their  opinion,  that  the  best  drink  for 
man  is  water. 

The  Medical  Society  of  the  Western  District  of  New  Hampshire 
declared,  that  spirituous  drinks  have  no  tendency  to  protect  the 
system  from  diseases,  but  expose  it  the  more.  The  New  Hamp- 
shire Medical  Society  did  the  same,  and  gave  it  as  their  opinion, 
that  distilled  spirits  are  not  essentially  necessary  in  a  single  disease. 
They  resolved  that  they  would  abstain  from  the  use  of  them  them- 
selves, and  discourage  the  use  of  them  by  others. 

The  President  of  the  Society,  in  his  address  delivered  June,  1827,. 
said,  "  Does  a  healthy  laboring  man  need  alcohol  ?  No  more  than 
he  needs  arsenic,  corrosive  sublimate,  or  opium.  It  has  been  proved 
a  thousand  times,  that  more  labor  can  be  accomplished  in  a  month, 
or  a  year,  under  the  influence  of  simple  nourishing  food,  and  un- 
stimulating  drink,  than  through  the  aid  of  alcohol."       *      *     * 

"  From  a  commercial  friend  in  Massachusetts  I  have  lately  re- 
ceived the  following  information.  '  I  visited,'  says  he,  '  four  or 
five  years  since,  in  New  Jersey,  an  iron  foundery  belonging  to  Mr. 
Wood,  of  Philadelphia.  I  think  there  were  thirty  or  forty  men  em- 
ployed in  the  establishment,  and  all  they  drank  was  pure  spring 
water.  I  saw  them  often  while  lading  out  the  hot  metal,  and  sweating 
at  every  pore,  take  a  mug,  run  to  the  spring,  and  drink  very  freely 
of  the  water.  I  inquired  if  they  did  not  feel  any  ill  effects  from 
drinking  so  much  cold  water.  They  answered,  No.  The  furnace 
went  into  blast  in  April,  and  continued  till  October.  All  those 
employed  had  the  best  of  health  during  the  whole  season,  and  re- 
turned to  their  friends  in  the  autumn  with  better  health  and  fuller 
purses  than  they  ever  had  before. 

"  '  A  vessel  belonging  to  my  neighbor  went  from  this  place  to 
South  America,  and  from  thence  to  India.  No  spirit  was  allowed  to 
the  crew  during  the  whole  voyage.  They  all  arrived  home  in  good 
health.  One  of  my  own  captains  kept  grog  from  his  men  the 
whole  of  an  India  voyage  ;  they  all  came  home  ill  fine  health.     For 


22 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 


my  crews  in  hot  climates,  I  direct  spruce  beer,  made  with  the  oil 
or  essence  of  spruce,  and  molasses  and  water.  I  shipped  two 
crews  last  week  for  long  voyages  in  hot  climates,  and  named  to  the 
men  that  we  should  not  allow  them  grog.  There  was  not  a  single 
objection  made  to  signing  die  shipping  papers.  It  is  in  the  power 
of  every  ship  owner  to  prevent  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  on  board  his 
vessels,  by  sending  out  a  few  ban-els  of  molasses,  and  a  few  dozen 
bottles  of  the  essence  of  spruce,  for  beer.' 

"  To  the  foregoing  suggestion  it  may  be  proper  to  add,  that,  for 
laboring  men  in  hot  weather,  sweetened  water,  sometimes  with  the 
addition  of  ginger,  is  a  most  salutary  drink;  so  also  is  a  mixture  of 
milk  and  water. 

;<  The  principle  of  life  is  afforded  to  every  individual  in  such  quan- 
tity, or  ii)  such  manner,  as  to  admit  of  the  living  actions  being  car- 
ried on  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances  only  for  a  limited 
period  ;  and  as  no  human  power  or  skill  can  increase  this  principle 
one  jot  or  tittle,  so  neither  can  the  actions  of  life  be  urged  beyond 
the  standard  of  sound  health  (leaving  casualties  out  of  the  question) 
without  necessarily  shortening  it.  And  this  shortening  of  life  will 
be  for  minutes,  or  months,  or  years,  according  to  the  degree  and 
continuance  of  the  excitement  beyond  the  natural  and  uniform  rate 
of  healthy  action. 

"  This  vital  principle  has  been  likened,  not  altogether  inaptly,  to 
oil  in  a  lamp,  which  is  capable  of  sustaining  (lame  only  for  a  certain 
length  of  time.  If  the  wick  be  raised  higher  than  necessary  to 
produce  a  full  and  clear  light,  a  part  of  the  oil  goes  off  in  smoke, 
and  the  whole  is  sooner  consumed." 

Many  of  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  in  the  Northern  and  Middle 
States  passed  resolutions  in  favor  of  abstinence ;  and  recommended 
to  all  the  churches  and  congregations  under  their  care,  to  cooperate 
with  the  friends  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  in  extending 
its  principles  and  operations  throughout  the  land.  The  members 
of  several  churches  resolved  entirely  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirit  themselves,  being  persuaded  that  the  gospel  required  it, 
and  to  use  their  influence  to  lead  all  others  to  do  the  same.  The 
youth  in  various  colleges,  and  the  citizens  in  numerous  towns, 
united  in  Temperance  Societies,  on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the 
use  of  this  poison  ;  and  the  impression  was  rapidly  extending,  that 
no  man  could  continue,  as  an  article  of  luxury  or  diet,  to  use  it,  or 
be  accessory  to  the  use  of  it  by  others,  without  the  commission  of 
sin,  and,  in  proportion  to  the  light  which  he  might  have  on  the 
subject,  the  accumulation  of  tremendous  and  ever-growing  guilt. 

The  facts  which  had  been  developed  showed  that  the  use  of 
this  article  is  not  needful,  not  salutary,  but  is  uniformly  hurtful ; 
that  it  caused  more  than  three  fourths  of  the  pauperism,  crimes, 
and  wretchedness  of  the  community;  greatly  increased  the  number, 


FOURTH  REPORT 1831.  23 

frequency,  and  violence  of  diseases  ;  destroyed  the  reason  of  mul- 
titudes ;  and  brought  down  greater,  and  still  greater  multitudes  to  an 
untimely  grave.  They  showed,  conclusively,  that  it  tended,  with 
a  mighty  influence,  to  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  to  hinder 
the  efficacy  of  all  the  means  which  God  has  provided  for  the  moral" 
and  spiritual  illumination  and  purification  of  men,  and  thus  to  ruin 
them  forever.  And  the  prospect  was,  that,  should  suitable  means 
be  used,  and  the  whole  community  be  made  acquainted  with  the 
facts,  the  conviction  of  this  truth,  unless  prevented  by  avarice  or 
appetite,  would,  with  the  divine  blessing,  become  universal. 

In  November,  1827,  the  Committee  reappointed  Rev.  Na- 
thaniel Hewit  to  an  agency  for  three  years.  And,  having  been 
dismissed  from  his  pastoral  care  for  that  purpose,  he  accepted 
the  appointment,  and  entered  upon  its  duties  January  1,  1828. 

In  May  of  the  same  year,  they  appointed  Rev.  Joshua  Leavitt 
to  an  agency  for  four  months.  A  commission  was  also  given  to 
Mr.  Daniel  C.  Axtell,  to  labor  as  an  agent  in  the  western  parts  of 
the  state  of  New  York.  His  salary  and  traveling  expenses  were 
paid  by  a  benevolent  individual  in  that  part  of  the  state. 

Rev.  Dr.  Woodbridge,  of  Hadley,  Mass.,  at  the  request  of  the 
Hampshire  County  Temperance  Society,  performed  an  agency 
through  most  of  the  towns  in  that  county.  Other  individuals  per- 
formed voluntary  agencies  in  their  own  towns  and  districts.  At 
the  close  of  the  year  1828,  there  were  formed  and  reported  13 
Temperance  Societies  in  Maine,  23  in  New  Hampshire,  7  in  Ver- 
mont, 39  in  Massachusetts,  2  in  Rhode  Island,  33  in  Connecticut', 
78  in  New  York,  6  in  New  Jersey,  7  in  Pennsylvania,  1  in  Del- 
aware, 1  in  Maryland,  5  in  Virginia,  2  in  North  Carolina,  1  in 
South  Carolina,  1  in  Kentucky,  1  in  Ohio,  and  2  in  Indiana.  Oth- 
ers had  been  formed  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  which  had 
not  been  reported.  State  Societies  had  been  formed  in  New 
Hampshire,  Vermont,  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  Illinois.  A  So- 
ciety had  also  been  formed  in  Lower  Canada;  and  it  is  supposed 
that  there  were  not  less  than  thirty  thousand  persons  who  had 
agreed  not  to  use  ardent  spirits. 

In  Belchertown,  Mass.,  the  quantity  used  in  1825  was  only 
about  one  fourth  as  much  as  in  1824.  In  Plymouth,  New  Hamp- 
shire, the  cost  of  ardent  spirits  was  not  one  sixteenth  part  as 
much  as  in  1826.  Similar  changes  had  been  effected  in  other 
places. 

Resolutions  of  abstinence  had  been  passed  by  more  than  20 
military  companies,  by  the  officers  of  4  regiments,  by  10  med- 
ical societies,  and  a  great  portion  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  bodies 
in  the  country.  The  lawyers  of  3  counties  had  voted  to  abstain' 
from  ardent  spirits,*  and  the  members  of  the  House  of  Rep- 
*  Appendix,  F. 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY, 

resentatives  of  New  Hampshire,  not  to  use  them  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature. 

A  number  of  distilleries  had  been  stopped,  and  more  than  a 
hundred  merchants  had  renounced  the  traffic  ;  vessels  were  sent 
to  foreign  ports  without  carrying  the  poison ;  and  the  impression 
continued  to  extend,  that  no  person,  acquainted  with  the  subject, 
could  continue  to  use  or  to  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  without  the 
guilt  of  blood. 

The  language  used  at  the  annual  meetings,  to  which  thousands 
of  the  wisest  and  best  hearts  in  the  land  responded,  was, 
"  There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  of  the  pait  which  the  Christian 
should  act.  He  is  imperiously  called  upon,  by  the  principles  of  his 
religion,  to  abandon  all  connection,  of  whatever  kind,  with  the  in- 
toxicating cup.  Every  glass  he  drinks  is  a  warrant  for  his  neighbor 
to  do  the  like ;  and  intemperance  is  sure  to  follow  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits.  There  is  nothing  on  earth  that  can  prevent  it ;  and  as  long 
as  human  nature  remains  the  same,  this  will  continue  to  be  the 
case.  No  man  can  therefore  encourage  that  use ;  no  man  can  ad- 
minister the  poison,  without  being  responsible  for  the  consequences. 
The  trader  knows  that  every  barrel  he  purchases  will  spread  sorrow 
and  grief  wherever  it  is  carried.  There  is  a  moral  certainty,  that 
every  gallon  that  is  carried  into  the  country,  will  help  to  keep  alive 
that  baneful  disease,  which  rages  with  a  fury  that  knows  no  re- 
straint, and  with  a  force  that  cannot  be  resisted.  Every  man, 
therefore,  who  carries  it  into  the  country,  is  directly  concerned  in 
producing  that  mass  of  pauperism,  disease,  and  crime,  which  results 
irom  intemperance.  He  supplies  the  fuel  that  keeps  alive  the 
flame,  and  he  is  the  incendiary  who  spreads  that  liquid  fire  which 
involves  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  domestic  circle,  the  promise 
of  youth,  and  the  hopes  of  old  age,  in  one  general  ruin. 

"  The  vending  of  ardent  spirits  cannot  be  carried  on  withou! 
guilt.  Every  grog-shop  exhibits  scenes  that  religion  cannot  witness 
without  horror.  Here  every  evil  passion  is  fed  !  Here  every  base 
propensity  is  nourished !  Here  is  kept  the  food  of  drunkenness, 
and  hither  resort  all  those  miserable  victims  of  the  disease  who 
would  rather  die  of  it  than  be  cured  !  Here  is  found  the  poison  that 
vitiates  the  taste  of  the  temperate,  and  prepares  them  to  supply  the 
places  of  those  who  die  of  this  plague  !  Here  the  temperate  drink, 
and  here  the  temperate  learn  to  be  drunkards.  All  the  drunk- 
ards in  the  country  are  brought  up  at  these  stores.  They  are  the 
schools  of  intemperance,  and  as  long  as  they  continue  the  traffic  in 
axdent  spirits,  they  will  continue  to  be  the  poison  of  the  land.  As 
long  as  they  furnish  the  supply  of  ardent  spirits  called  for,  they  will 
continue  to  send  forth  through  the  towns  in  which  they  are  found, 
a  pestilence,  laying  waste  every  noble  and  manly  feeling  of  the 
human  heart,  and  every  lovely  trait  in  the  human  character.     Is 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  25 

not  this  so  ?  Where  were  the  drunkards  of  our  village  formed,  but 
at  those  places  where  ardent  spirits  are  sold  ?  Where  is  the  origin 
of  all  that  poverty  and  crime  which  are  traced  to  intemperance,  but 
at  these  Aceldamas  of  human  blood  ?  Where  can  the  wife  and  the 
mother  find  the  cause  of  that  fountain  of  tears  which  they  are  con- 
strained to  shed,  but  at  these  fountains  of  ardent  spirits  ?  And 
can  the  Christian  carry  on  this  traffic  ?  Can  he  supply  the  lava 
which  scorches  the  land,  and  be  innocent  ?  Does  he  find  nothing 
in  that  benign  religion  which  he  professes,  to  forbid  it  ?  Can  he  be 
the  agent  of  intemperance,  the  commissary  of  the  drunkard,  and 
feel  no  remorse  ?  I  know  the  vender  tells  you  he  is  not  an- 
swerable for  the  consequences  ;  that  he  frowns  on  intemperance, 
and  withholds  the  cup  from  the  drunkard.  But  this  is  not  so. 
Does  not  the  vender  know  the  effects  of  ardent  spirits  ?  Does  he 
not  know  the  consequences  which  they  will  assuredly  produce  ? 
Does  he  not  know  that  of  those  who  drink,  many  will  be  drunken  ? 
And  can  he  supply  the  cause,  and  detach  himself  from  the  effect  ? 
Can  he  hurl  firebrands  through  your  city,  and  witness  the  confla- 
gration, and  claim  exemption  from  blame?  Can  he  spread  the 
contagion  among  your  families,  and,  when  he  hears  the  dying  groan 
and  sees  the  funeral,  tell  you  that  he  is  innocent  ?  Yet  the  vender 
of  ardent  spirits  does  all  this.  He  spreads  the  intoxicating  cause  ; 
he  sees  the  drunken  effect ;  he  hears  the  drunken  curse ;  he  wit- 
nesses the  drunken  revel  ;  he  is  surrounded  with  it;  he  is  producing 
it ;  and  yet  tells  you  that  he  is  innocent !  Wonderful  fatuity  !  But 
he  knows  the  responsibility  is  so  great  that  he  shrinks  from 
acknowledging  it.  He  sees  the  guilt  and  the  wo,  and  shudders  at 
the  thought  of  being  its  cause.  And  well  he  may  ;  but  he  cannot 
escape.  As  long  as  he  furnishes  the  means  of  drunkenness  to 
others,  he  is  a  partaker  of  the  crime.  And  he  should  be  so  held 
in  public  opinion.  He  should  be  held  directly  responsible  for  the 
consequences  of  his  acts,  and  the  same  odium  which  attaches  to 
the  principal  should  attach  to  all  accessories.  But  he  tells  you 
he  frowns  on  intemperance.  So,  perhaps,  he  does.  After  produ- 
cing it,  he  frowns  on  the  wretch  that  he  has  made  drunken,  and 
abhors  his  own  offspring.  But  every  retailer  should  remember  that 
the  drunkards  with  whom  he  is  surrounded  are  his  own  children 
and  apprentices,  and  that  they  afford  a  living  exhibition  of  the  char- 
acter of  his  own  deeds.  When  he  looks  upon  them,  ragged,  filthy 
and  debased — when  he  hears  the  noon-day  curse  and  the  midnight 
broil,  he  should  say,  '  Here  is  my  work ;  this  is  what  I  have  done. 
It  is  my  trade  to  make  such  men.  1  have  spent  my  life  in  it.'  And 
if  he  is  a  Christian,  and  duly  appreciates  his  guilt,  he  will  raise  his 
hands  to  Heaven,  and  before  God  declare  that  he  will  make  no 
more  such. 

"But  the  vender  tells   you  again  that  he   withholds    the   cup 
3 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

from  the  drunkard.  So,  perhaps,  he  may.  He  will  furnish  the  cup 
till  the  wretch  is  made  drunken,  and  then  refuse  him  till  he  is  sober 
again.  But  this  is  too  late  ;  this  refusal  comes  when  it  can  do 
little  or  no  good.  The  crime  is  already  perpetrated.  The  guilt  is 
already  incurred,  and  in  vain  does  the  vender  attempt  to  escape. 
But  it  is  not  true,  that  he  withholds  the  cup  from  the  drunkard. 
Every  retailer  does  sell  to  the  drunkard,  and,  however  well  mean- 
ing he  may  be,  he  cannot  carry  on  this  trade  without  contributing 
to  the  support  of  intemperance.  And  this  traffic  should  be 
abandoned  by  the  Christian  public.  Conscience  should  be  allowed 
a  triumph  over  interest  and  custom,  and  the  merchandise  of  spirits 
should  be  classed  with  the  merchandise  of  blood.  No  Christian 
should  contaminate  his  hands  and  his  soul  with  this  most  destructive 
and  demoralizing  commerce.  And  I  am  happy  to  say,  that  many 
merchants  have  lately  viewed  this  as  they  ought,  and  forsaken 
the  trade,  as  being  a  curse  revolting  to  the  feelings  of  patriotism  and 
Christianity.  They  have  given  a  noble  example  of  the  triumph  of 
principle,  and  one  that  deserves  the  universal  approbation  of  the 
Christian  public. 

"  But  the  retailer  is  not  alone.  He  is  but  a  subaltern  in  that 
mighty  army  of  the  agents  of  intemperance  which  is  scattered 
through  the  land.  He  is  the  immediate  instrument  of  the  ruin 
which  spirituous  liquors  occasion,  but  the  wholesale  dealer,  although 
one  grade  above  him,  is  equally  a  partaker  of  the  guilt.  He  sup- 
plies the  numerous  streams  which  issue  through  the  land,  laying 
waste  every  thing  in  their  course.  Could  the  vender  learn  the 
history  of  a  single  hogshead  of  this  liquid  ;  could  every  drop  return 
to  him,  and  give  a  faithful  account  of  the  effects  it  had  produced, — 
he  would  shudder  at  the  narration.  Could  he  collect  before  him, 
and  be  enabled  to  see,  the  crime,  the  disease  and  death,  the  poverty 
and  distress,  to  count  the  tears  and  hear  the  groans,  which  every 
cask  of  spirits  occasions,  he  would  revolt  with  horror  from  the  trade. 
But  he  may  conceive  it.  Let  him  learn  the  history  of  intem- 
perance, and  then  let  him  reflect  that  he  is  constantly  engaged  in 
spreading  its  horrors  ;  that  he  is  supplying  from  day  to  clay  the 
liquid  fire  that  is  scattered  by  an  army  of  retailers  through  the  land, 
scorching  and  destroying  every  thing  within  its  reach,  and  he  will 
be  constrained  to  pronounce  it  an  undiristian  occupation.  And  let 
the  distiller  remember,  that  he  stands  at  the  head  of  the  stream,  and 
lets  loose  the  flood-gates  to  deluge  and  destroy ;  that  his  occupation 
is  to  poison  the  land,  and  that  the  more  he  does,  the  more  wretched 
is  the  world ;  and  he  will  not  find  one  single  consolation  to  cheer 
and  support  him."     *     *     * 

"  Does  the  Christian  pray  for  the  spread  of  his  religion,  and  is  he 
at  the  same  time  engaged  in  the  spread  of  intemperance  ?  Does 
he  pray  for  the  reformation  of  the  world,  and,  while  his  prayers  are 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  27 

ascending  to  heaven,  is  he  spreading  the  plague,  that  poisons  the 
heart,  and  renders  mankind  incapable  of  reformation  ?  Is  he  sup- 
porting the  missionary  in  foreign  lands,  from  funds  which  he  has 
collected  as  the  wages  of  drunkenness  ?  And  does  he  believe  the 
God  of  heaven  will  smile  on  the  labors  of  him  who  is  supported  by 
food  taken  from  the  mouths  of  the  children  of  the  intemperate,  for 
the  drink  that  destroys  them  ?  While  lie  is  attempting  to  teach  the 
heathen  the  way  to  heaven,  is  he  binding  his  own  countrymen  in 
chains  strong  as  the  bands  of  death,  and  leading  them  in  the  road 
to  hell  ?  Is  he  training  them  to  practices  and  habits  which  will  as 
surely  bar  them  from  the  realms  of  bliss  as  though  no  redemption 
had  been  provided  for  them  ? 

"  I  venerate  the  Christian's  character,  and  whenever  I  find  him 
acting  in  consistency  with  the  principles  of  the  gospel,  I  do  indeed 
regard  him  as  the  salt  of  the  earth.  But  I  fear  on  this  subject 
there  is  an  awful  inconsistency  in  the  conduct  of  some.  I  believe 
all  connection  with  spirituous  liquors,  in  the  present  state  of  society, 
to  be  sinful.  Since  the  way,  and  the  only  way,  to  banish  intemper- 
ance from  the  earth,  has  been  pointed  out,  it  is  the  Christian's  duty 
to  adopt  that  course,  whatever  may  be  the  sacrifice,  and  to  disclaim 
all  connection  between  rum  and  religion. 

"  They  cannot  agree.  Every  feeling  that  the  farmer  inspires  is 
hostile  to  the  latter;  and  if  there  be  any  thing  on  earth  that  can 
eradicate  piety  from  the  heart,  it  is  the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  Its 
inspiration  is  unholy  and  impure  ;  and  I  call  upon  the  Christian  to 
abstain,  not  only  for  his  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  world, 
for  the  sake  of  the  example,  as  the  means,  and  the  only  means,  of 
effecting  a  reformation  of  mankind  from  intemperance.  I  believe 
the  time  is  coming  when  not  only  the  drunkard  but  the  drinker  will 
be  excluded  from  the  church  of  our  God — when  the  gambler,  the 
slave  dealer,  and  the  rum  dealer,  will  be  classed  together.  And  I 
care  not  how  soon  that  time  arrives.  I  would  pray  for  it  as  devout- 
ly as  for  the  millennium.  And  when  it  comes,  as  come  it  will,  it 
should  be  celebrated  by  the  united  band  of  philanthropists,  patriots, 
and  Christians  throughout  the  world,  as  a  great  and  most  glorious 
jubilee." 

In  several  cases,  the  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  temperance 
were  followed  by  remarkable  success  of  the  gospel,  and  numbers 
were  led  hopefully  to  embrace  the  Savior ;  and  the  connection 
began  strikingly  to  appear  between  these  efforts  and  the  salvation 
of  men. 

In  1829,  the  Committee  established  a  weekly  paper,  called 
The  Journal  of  Humanity,  to  be  the  organ  of  their  communica- 
tion with  the  public,  and  appointed  Rev.  Edward  W.  Hooker, 
editor  and  associate  general  agent.  The  present  Correspond- 
ing Secretary  was  also  reappointed   as  general  agent,  and  the 


28  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

following  persons  as  local  agents,  viz.  Rev.  Asa  Mead  for 
Maine,  Rev.  Andrew  Rankin  for  New  Hampshire,  Rev.  Daniel 
O.  Morton  for  Vermont,  and  Rev.  Talcott  Bates  for  Connecti- 
cut. Rev.  Messrs.  Coggin,  Barbour,  Mann,  Shepherd,  Clark, 
Bond,  and  Woodbury,  were  also  appointed,  each  as  an  agent  for 
a  county  in  Massachusetts.  Other  agents  were  employed  by 
State  Societies ;  and  benevolent  individuals  performed  voluntary 
agencies  in  various  parts  of  the  country. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1829,  there  had  been  formed,  on  the 
plan  of  abstinence,  and  reported,  more  than  1000  Societies,  em- 
bracing more  than  100,000  members.  Eleven  of  them  were 
State  Societies.  Of  those  known  to  the  Committee,  62  were  in 
Maine,  46  in  New  Hampshire,  56  in  Vermont,  169  in  Massachu- 
setts, 3  in  Rhode  Island,  133  in  Connecticut,  300  in  New  York, 
21  in  New  Jersey,  53  in  Pennsylvania,  1  in  Delaware,  6  in  Mary- 
land, 52  in  Virginia,  15  in  North  Carolina,  10  in  South  Carolina, 
14  in  Georgia,  8  in  Alabama,  30  in  Ohio,  9  in  Kentucky,  5  in 
Tennessee,  4  in  Mississippi,  13  in  Indiana,  I  in  Illinois,  3  in 
Michigan,  and  I  in  Missouri.  Societies  were  also  formed  in 
Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  in  Nova  Scotia,  and  in  New  Brunswick. 

More  than  50  distilleries  had  been  stopped,  more  than  400 
merchants  had  renounced  the  traffic,  and  more  than  1200  drunk- 
ards had  ceased  to  use  the  drunkard's  drink.  Persons,  who,  a 
few  years  before,  were  vagabonds  about  the  street,  were  now 
sober,  respectable  men,  providing  comfortably,  by  their  labor,  for 
their  wives  and  their  children. 

In  a  number  of  towns,  ardent  spirit  was  not  sold,  andv  in  sev- 
eral cases,  not  even  kept  at  the  public  houses.  And  in  some 
places,  no  person  who  was  acquainted  with  the  subject,  and  yet 
continued  to  use  distilled  liquor,  as  an  article  of  luxury  or  diet,  or 
to  traffic  in  it,  was  viewed  as  a  proper  person  for  admission  to  a 
Christian  church.  The  business  was  viewed  as  an  immorality,  in 
which  no  person  could  continue,  and  yet  give  credible  evidence 
of  being  a  good  man. 

The  guilt  of  aiding  and  abetting  in  this  work  of  death,  became 
more  and  more  obvious ;  and  the  number  rapidly  increased,  who 
saw  that  the  effect  of  enlightened  Christian  principle  would  be, 
to  banish  this  awful  immorality  from  the  globe.  And  the  ben- 
efits which  would  result,  from  such  a  change,  to  the  property, 
character,  health,  reason,  lives  and  souls  of  men,  became  more 
and  more  apparent. 

In  one  town  in  Vermont,  individuals,  by  abstaining  from  ardent 
spirit,  saved,  in  one  year,  more  than  $8000.  In  the  state  of 
New  Hampshire,  they  saved,  in  the  same  way,  more  than 
$•100,000.  In  Lyme,  New  Hampshire,  in  which  had  been  sold 
annually  about  6000  gallons,  the  quantity  sold  that  year  was  only 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  20 

600  gallons.  The  bill  of  mortality,  which  had,  for  six  years,  upon 
an  average,  been  annually  24 £  was  reduced,  for  two  years,  to  l?i. 
In  1826,  the  year  before  the  formation  of  the  Temperance  So- 
ciety, the  number  of  deaths  under  40  years  of  age  was  15; 
in  1828,  only  9. 

Had  every  town  in  the  United  States  pursued  a  similar  course, 
that  is,  used  but  one  tenth  part  the  usual  quantity  of  ardent 
spirits,  and  had  it  been  followed  by  a  similar  result,  the  number 
of  deaths,  that  year,  would  have  been  lessened  more  than  70,000.* 

In  a  number  of  towns,  the  Holy  Spirit  followed,  with  his  life-giv- 
ing power,  the  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  temperance,  and 
hundreds,  under  his  gracious  influence,  hopefully  embraced  the 
gospel. 

In  one  town  in  Massachusetts,  a  temperance  discourse  was 
delivered  near  the  close  of  1827.  Numbers  renounced  the  use 
of  ardent  spirit,  and  conducted  all  their  business  without  it. 
Many  were  anxious  to  form  a  Temperance  Society ;  but  some, 
among  the  aged  and  influential,  thought  that  they  could  not  do 
without  a  little,  and  no  society  was  formed,  till  the  young  men, 
impatient  at  the  delay  of  their  fathers,  called  a  meeting,  and 
formed  a  Society  among  themselves.  They  resolved  to  have 
stated  meetings,  collect  information,  and  spread  it  through  the 
town.  At  the  first  meeting,  many  were  solemn,  and  at  the  second, 
anxious  for  their  salvation ;  a  prayer  was  offered,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  descended  upon  them  :  the  anxiety  increased,  became 
general,  and  extended  through  the  town  ;  and  more  than  200,  it 
is  believed,  have  passed  from  death  unto  life.  Ten  of  those  young 
men  are  now  preparing  for  the  gospel  ministry ;  and,  should  their 
lives  be  spared,  and  their  talents  consecrated  to  the  Redeemer, 
they  may  be  instrumental  in  preparing  many  for  an  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory.  And,  could  we  trace  the  influ- 
ence of  that  single  Temperance  Society,  in  all  its  various  con- 
nections, bearings,  and  consequences,  upon  the  temporal  and  eter- 
nal interests  of  men,  the  vision  would  be  transporting.  And 
when  the  Committee  saw  these  Societies  rising,  and  extending 
their  benign  influences  not  merely  over  one,  but  over  a  thousand 
towns,  and  promising  to  extend  them  through  the  whole  land,  and 
to  all  future  ages,  they  could  not  but  thank  God,  and  take 
courage. 

This  year  was  also  rendered  memorable,  and  will  be  marked 
as  an  era  in  the  history  of  Europe,  from  its  having  been  the 
commencement  of  the  Temperance  Reformation  in  the  old  world. 

*  In  the  Connecticut  State  Prison,  with  an  average  of  120  convicts,  more  than  90  of 
wh'im  were  notoriously  intemperate  before  they  came  tlwre,  not  one  of  whom  vas 
permitted  to  take  a  ilrop  of  intoxicating  liquor  alter  he  entered  the  walls  of  the  prison, 
iber?  was  no  death  for  Ifi  months,  and  but  one  death  for  aN-.i:    '"  reara 

;t  * 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

A  meeting  was  holden,  in  July,  at  Belfast,  in  Ireland,  to  devise 
ways  and  means  for  preventing  the  profanation  of  the  Sabbath ; 
and,  in  o<"der  to  this,  for  preventing,  on  that  day,  the  sale  and  use 
of  spirituous  liquors.  It  was  found,  as  it  ever  will  be,  impossible 
to  prevent  the  one,  without  first  preventing  the  other.  The  use 
of  ardent  spirit  will,  in  all  countries,  and  all  ages,  cause  the 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  all  its  abominations.  To  remove 
the  effect,  therefore,  they  undertook  to  remove  the  cause.  And 
this  they  attempted  to  do  in  the  old  way,  by  the  force  of  civil  law. 
But  a  certain  individual  (Rev.  John  Edgar,  professor  of  divin- 
ity in  the  college  at  Belfast)  expressed  his  dissent  from  that 
mode  of  attempting  to  accomplish  the  object,  and  his  desire  to 
employ  moral  means  only,  in  attempting  to  effect  moral  refor- 
mation. 

He  was  therefore  appointed  to  prepare  an  appeal  to  the  public 
on  this  subject.  While  engaged  in  this  preparation,  he  learned, 
for  the  first  time,  by  a  friend  from  America  (Rev.  Mr.  Penny, 
of  Rochester,  New  York),  the  nature,  means  and  success  of  the 
Temperance  Reformation  in  the  United  States.  Eagerly  seizing 
on  its  grand  principles,  and  the  grand  principle  of  all  moral  refor- 
mation, viz.  Voluntary  abstinence  from  doing  evil,  as  an  essential 
pre-requisite  to  doing  well ;  and  voluntary  associations,  exhibiting 
this  principle  in  practice,  as  the  grand  means  of  effecting  it ;  he 
embodied  his  thoughts,  and  published  them  in  the  Belfast  papers, 
on  the  14th  of  August,  1S29.  This  was  the  first  appeal  on 
this  subject  to  the  Christians  of  Europe  ;  and  was  followed  by 
results  similar  to  those  which  had  been  witnessed  in  the  United 
States.  The  first  Temperance  Society  in  the  old  world,  on  the 
plan  of  abstinence,  was  formed  by  Rev.  George  Carre,  of  New 
Ross,  in  Ireland.  Special  pains  were  taken  to  furnish  them  with 
the  Journal  of  Humanity  and  other  temperance  publications 
from  this  country,  and  before  the  close  of  the  year,  they  had 
numerous  Temperance  Societies  in  Ireland  and  Scotland,  em- 
bracing more  than  14,000  members.  The  subject  had  been 
taken  up  in  England,  and  bid  fair  to  extend  through  the  king- 
dom. More  than  65,000  temperance  publications  had  issued 
from  the  press,  and  were  in  a  course  of  rapid  and  extensive 
circulation.  Persons  were  employed  to  go  from  house  to  house, 
and  distribute  them,  and  make  known  to  the  people  the  benefits 
that  would  result  to  them  and  their  children,  for  both  worlds,  from 
the  Temperance  Reformation. 

Thus  had  the  subject,  at  this  period,  taken  deep  root  on  two  con- 
tinents ;  and  the  r/rospect  was  increasing,  that,  should  Providence 
continue  to  smile,  and  temperate  men  to  do  their  duty,  it  would 
hold  on  its  way,  till  there  should  not  be  a  drunkard  on  the  globe. 

In  the  early  part  of  1830,  Rev.  Mr.  Hewit  visited  the  Middle 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  31 

and  Southern  States.  He  was  received  with  kindness,  heard  with 
attention,  and  was  instrumental  in  awakening  new  interest  in  that 
part  of  the  country.  In  March,  he  returned,  and  continued  his 
labors  in  New  England,  till  within  three  months  of  the  close  of 
his  engagement.  Having  been  invited  to  take  charge  of  a  church 
in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  and  believing  it  to  be  his  duty  to  ac- 
cept the  invitation,  he  resigned  his  laborious  and  successful  agen- 
cy, Sept.  30th,  1830.  And  while  the  Committee  would  grate- 
fully acknowledge  the  kindness  of  the  Lord  in  his  preservation  and 
success,  they  would  affectionate ly  sympathize  with  him  in  his 
recent  domestic  affliction,*  and  express  their  earnest  hope  that 
both  mercies  and  trials  may  be  overruled  for  his  greater  useful- 
ness on  earth,  and  his  more  distinguished  glory  in  heaven. 

Rev.  Edward  W.  Hooker,  associate  general  agent,  and  editor 
of  the  Journal  of  Humanity,  after  the  judicious  and  able  dis- 
charge of  its  duties  till  the  paper  was  established,  and  had  taken 
strong  hold  on  the  interests  of  the  community,  resigned  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Society  ;  and  Mr.  E.  C.  Tracy  was  appointed  editor 
in  his  stead.  This  paper  still  continues  to  be  a  powerful  auxil- 
iary in  the  great  and  good  cause.  It  is  read  with  deep  interest, 
by  intelligent  and  philanthropic  men,  in  this  and  other  countries  ; 
and  should  its  circulation  be  extended  so  as  to  render  its  publication 
permanent,  it  would  accomplish  unspeakable  good  to  our  country 
and  to  the  world.  And  the  Committee  would  earnestly  request  the 
friends  of  the  object,  as  extensively  as  practicable,  to  promote  its 
circulation. 

Other  papers,  and  periodical  publications,  have  exerted  a  power- 
ful influence,  and  rendered  valuable  aid  to  the  cause ;  and  it  is  de- 
sirable that  such  publications  should  be  circulated  extensively 
throughout  the  country. 

Rev.  Wm.  Kinner,  a  Baptist  clergyman  in  Illinois,  has  been 
appointed  to  labor  for  one  year,  as  agent,  in  that  state ;  and  the 
American  Tract  Society  has  made  a  donation  of  temperance  tracts, 
to  be  distributed  by  our  agents,  in  that  extended  and  interesting 
part  of  our  country . 

The  Corresponding  Secretary,  since  his  reappointment,  August 
27th,  1829,  has  continued  uninterruptedly  his  labors  in  the  service 
of  the  Society.  He  has  visited  various  parts  of  the  British 
province  of  New  Brunswick,  and  the  states  of  Maine,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Penn- 
sylvania, Delaware,  Maryland,  and  the  District  of  Columbia.  He 
has  traveled  more  than  6,400  miles,  and  preached  and  addressed 
public  bodies  three  hundred  and  eighty-six  times.  He  has  assisted 
in  the  formation,  and  attended  the  anniversaries,  of  numerous  Tem- 

*  Mrs.  Rebecca  Hewit,  wife  of  Rev.   Nathaniel  Hewit,  died  at  Bridgeport.  Coon., 
deeply  lamented,  Jan.  2d,  1831. 


32  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

perance  Socieiies ;  written  a  number  of  articles  for  publication  ;  con- 
ducted tbe  correspondence  ;  and  superintended  the  general  concerns 
of  tbe  Society. 

At  tbe  request  of  a  number  of  gentlemen,  he,  in  January,  1831, 
visited  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  addressed  the  citizens  of 
Washington,  Georgetown,  and  Alexandria.  Three  Temperance 
Societies  had  been  formed,  and  ten  others  were  formed,  during 
his  visit,  embracing  more  than  one  thousand  members.  At  the 
request  of  individuals  of  both  houses  of  Congress,  he  addressed  the 
members  of  that  body,  in  the  capitol,  on  the  subject.  The  at- 
tendants were  numerous,  and  the  interest  manifested  was  highly 
auspicious.  From  all  parts  of  the  country,  members  of  Congress 
testified  that  a  great  change  had  been  effected,  and  one  in  the 
highest  degree  salutary  to  all  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  inter- 
ests of  the  community. 

A  member  from  one  of  the  Southern  States,  and  from  a  district 
in  which  it  had  been  customary  for  candidates  for  office  to  bribe 
the  electors  with  spirituous  liquors,  declared,  "  that  so  great  had 
been  the  change  of  public  sentiment,  that,  should  any  man  now  pur- 
sue a  similar  course,  that,  of  itself,  would  defeat  his  election."* 

Another  member  from  one  of  the  Western  States,  declared, 
"  that  the  change  in  his  part  of  the  country  had  been  wonderful ; 
and  that  he  considered  the  object  of  the  Temperance  Society  as 
one  of  the  most  important,  and  its  operations  as  among  the  most 
useful,  of  any  in  the  world.  The  children — the  children,"  said  he, 
"  to  all  future  generations,  will  experience  the  benefit.  Any  publi- 
cations on  this  subject,  which  you  may  wish  to  send  into  my  dis- 
trict, I  will  cheerfully  forward." 

Similar  was  the  testimony  of  others,  and  their  readiness  to  cir- 
culate information  on  the  subject. 

There  is  no  object,  said  they,  of  more  importance  than  this,  to 
the  welfare  of  the  country. 

From  a  number  of  the  principal  boarding-houses  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  ardent  spirit  was  excluded  ;  and  many  of  the  mem- 
bers of  Congress  used  none  during  the  session. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that, 
through  an  extensive  region  of  country  where  he  had  traveled,  the 
quantity  used  had  been  diminished  more  than  half. 

The  Secretary  of  War  stated,  that,  of  more  than  one  thousand 
desertions  from  the  army,  during  the  last  year,  nearly  all  were  oc- 
casioned by  drinking. 

From  January  1st,  1823,  to  December  31st,  1829,  the  number 
of  desertions  was  5,669  ;  upon  an  average,  more  than  eight  hun- 
dred ;  nearly  one  seventh  part  of  the  whole  army  (which  consists 

*  Appendix,  G. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  33 

of  about  six  thousand)  every  year.  The  loss  to  the  country  by 
desertions  in  these  seven  years,  exclusive  of  the  expenses  of  con- 
vening courts-martial,  and  several  other  items,  was  $471,263;  or 
about  $70  to  a  man;  and  during  six  years,  ending  December  31st, 
1828,  the  number  of  soldiers  tried  by  courts-martial,  was  7,058. 
In  five  years,  ending  December  31st,  1827,  there  were  5,582;  be- 
ing nearly  one  to  each  individual  in  the  army,  during  one  term  of 
enlistment.  And  a  great  majority  of  the  whole  resulted  from  the  use 
of  ardent  spirit.  And  if  to  this  we  add  the  cost  of  the  liquor,  the 
expenses  of  a  great  increase  of  sickness,  and  numerous  premature 
deaths,  the  loss,  from  the  use  of  this  poison,  in  the  army,  the  whole 
tendency  of  which  is  to  injure  the  soldier,  and  unfit  him  for  the  de- 
fence of  his  country,  must  have  been  very  great.* 

A  distinguished  officer  of  the  army  declared,  "  Nearly  all  the  trouble 
we  have  with  the  men  arises  from  drinking."  And  in  a  letter 
which  our  Secretary  lately  received  from  him,  he  says,  "  Since  I 
last  wrote  you,  1  have  visited  a  military  post ;  and,  on  looking  over  the 
sick  list,  with  the  acting  surgeon  and  hospital  steward  at  my  el- 
bow, to  tell  me  the  cause  of  each  man's  sickness,  I  was  assured 
that,  out  of  forty-six  cases,  the  diseases  of  more  than  forty  had 
their  origin  in  intemperance.  Probably  more  than  five  sixths  of 
all  military  offences  tried  before  our  courts-martial,  result  from  in- 
temperance." The  same  officer  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that,  since, 
his  acquaintance  with  the  army,  which  has  been  for  many  years, 
more  than  three  fourths  of  the  deaths  among  the  soldiers  were  oc- 
casioned by  ardent  spirits.  And  he  says,  "  The  Secretary  of  War 
has,  in  my  opinion,  done  incalculable  good  to  the  army,  by  with- 
holding the  whiskey  part  of  the  rations.  We  want  now  a  few  tem- 
perance preachers  to  visit  from  post  to  post,  and  bring  the  subject 
of  temperance  before  the  troops  ;  form  Societies  ;  furnish  them  with 
addresses,  essays,  and  periodicals  ;  and  I  doubt  not  that  a  happy 
reformation  would  be  witnessed  in  the  army." 

And  his  anticipations  seem  to  be  justified  by  facts.  In  a  num- 
ber of  cases,  Temperance  Societies  have  been  formed  at  various 
military  posts,  and  with  the  most  cheering  results. 

From  one  of  them,  a  correspondent  writes,  "  Ardent  spirit  had 
been,  as  was  customary,  dealt  out  to  the  soldiers.  The  con- 
sequence was,  the  majority  were  in  a  state  of  degradation,  and 
were  going  the  broad  road  to  ruin,  as  fast  as  the  wheels  of  time, 
and  the  ruinous  consequences  of  irregular  living,  would  carry  them. 
About  one  fourth,  on  an  average,  were  unable  to  do  duty  on  ac- 
count of  drunkenness ;  which  caused  sickness,  punishments,  and 
desertions,  not  a  few.  In  consequence  of  the  visits  and  efforts  of 
individuals,  a  change  has  taken  place,  so  great,  that  the  officers 

*  Appendix,  H. 


34  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY, 

cheerfully  acknowledge,  that  the  Lord  hath  done  it.  One  hundred 
and  sixty-nine,  out  of  two  hundred  and  ten  soldiers,  signed  a  petition  to 
have  no  ardent  spirit  brought  to  the  garrison.  The  petition  was 
granted.  With  their  grog-money,  they  have  purchased  a  library  oi 
more  than  five  hundred  volumes ;  and  it  is  now  a  shame  for  any 
man  to  drink  or  be  drunken.  The  Sabbath  is  spent  in  reading 
aqd  attending  public  worship.  The  Sabbath  school  is  taught 
by  the  officers  and  others,  and  conducted  in  an  orderly  and  a  useful 
manner." 

The  regulation  above  referred  to,  adopted  by  the  war  depart- 
ment, together  with  the  remarks  upon  it  of  a  gentleman  connected 
with  the  army,  and  of  distinguished  medical  gentlemen,  will  be 
found  in  the  Appendix  ;*  and  should  suders  and  all  others  be  pro- 
hibited from  furnishing  ardent  spirits,  and  the  troops  from  pur- 
chasing them,  the  result  to  the  army  and  to  the  country  would  be 
in  the  highest  degree  salutary.  It  would  prevent  a  great  portion  of 
all  the  desertions  and  courts-martial ;  of  sickness  and  premature 
deaths ;  and  would  save  annually  more  than  half  a  million  of 
dollars. 

The  use  of  ardent  spirit  has  done  more  than  every  thing  else  tc 
deteriorate  the  character  of  the  soldier,  and  unfit  him  for  the  de- 
fence of  his  country.  And  so  long  as  the  cause  is  continued, 
whether  it  it  kept  in  operation  by  the  government  or  by  individu- 
als, the  effect  can  never  be  done  away. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  also  expressed  his  conviction,  that 
the  use  which  is  made  of  ardent  spirit  is  one  of  the  greatest  curses  ; 
and  declared  his  intention  to  recommend  a  change  with  regard  to 
die  navy.  A  distinguished  officer  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  nine 
tenths  of  all  the  difficulties  which  the  officers  have  with  the  men 
arise  from  ardent  spirits  ;  and  expressed  his  strong  conviction, 
from  what  he  had  witnessed  on  board  bis  own  ship,  and  others, 
which  had  made  the  experiment,  of  the  practicability  and  great  utili- 
ty of  entire  abstinence  throughout  the  navy.  He  said,  "  If  Con- 
gress would  pass  a  law,  prohibiting  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  in  the 
navy,  and  giving  to  the  men  the  value  of  it  in  money,  there  would 
be  no  difficulty ;  and  it  would  be  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  that 
could  be  conferred  upon  them."  There  is  now  a  provision  that  all 
who  will  voluntarily  relinquish  it,  shall  be  allowed  six  cents  per 
ration,  as  a  substitute.  But  what  is  needed  is,  that  the  government 
should  cease  to  furnish  it  for  any. 

On  board  the  United  States  sloop  of  war  Falmouth,  in  her  late 
cruise,  seventy  of  the  men  abstained  entirely  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit ;  and  between  forty  and  fifty  on  board  the  Brandy  wine  ;  and 
they  were  among  die  most  healthy,  cheerful   and  orderly  in  the 

♦Appendix,    I. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  35 

ship.  "  During  the  cruise,"  said  the  chaplain,  "  I  never  knew  a 
complaint  against  one  of  thein ;  and  the  total  disuse  of  spirit  is  in- 
creasing in  the  navy  generally.  The  inquiry,  'Can  seamen  advan- 
tageously and  comfortably  dispense  with  spirituous  liquors,  while  at 
sea  ?'  is  satisfactorily  answered,  by  a  cloud  of  witnesses.  Both  i:t 
our  navy  and  in  our  merchant  ship,  the  question  is  at  rest."  A 
later  communication,  from  die  Mediterranean  squadron,  states, 
"  That,  out  of  the  whole  ship's  company  of  the  frigate  Brandywine, 
amounting  to  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  souls,  only  one  hundred 
and  sixty  men  drew  their  grog." 

Since  January  1st,  1830,  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  ves- 
sels have  sailed  from  the  port  of  Boston,  which  do  not  carry  ardent 
spirit ;  and  it  is  believed,  that  there  are  now  afloat  on  the  ocean, 
more  than  four  hundred  of  this  description.  The  longest  and  most 
difficult  voyages  are  made  without  it ;  and  greatly  to  the  health, 
comfort  and  safety  of  the  men.  Of  seven  hundred  sailors,  who 
have  called  for  a  supply  of  books,  at  one  office,  more  than  two 
hundred  abstain  from  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  ;  and  should  this 
course  be  adopted  by  all  seafaring  men,  it  would  prevent,  accord- 
ing to  the  opinion  of  experienced  navigators,  more  than  half  of  all 
the  shipwrecks  on  the  ocean. 

A  captain,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Europe,  said  to  our  Secre- 
tary, "  I  took  seven  men  from  a  wreck  just  before  my  arrival,  in  a 
state  of  almost  utter  starvation.  When  wrecked,  they  took  a  keg 
of  whiskey,  but  never  thought  of  victuals ;  and  had  it  not  been  for 
a  timely  discovery,  they  must  all  have  perished.  And  this  habit 
of  drinking  is  the  cause  of  a  great  portion  of  all  the  shipwrecks. 
The  moment  sailors  become  frightened,  they  begin  to  drink,  soon 
despair,  give  up  all  for  lost,  and  drink  till  they  are  lost.  Had  they 
held  on,  and  not  touched  the  poison,  they  had  out-rode  the  storm, 
and  been  safe." 

So  say  the  facts.  A  vessel,  lately  coming  from  Virginia  to  New 
York,  with  a  number  of  passengers  on  board,  was  overtaken  with  a 
storm,  which  raged  with  great  violence,  and  continued  a  long  time. 
All  the  sailors  on  board  who  drank  ardent  spirit,  from  intemperance, 
fatigue,  or  despair,  gave  up,  and  ceased  to  labor.  But  one  man  on 
board  drank  no  ardent  spirit ;  and  although  he,  with  the  rest,  had 
buffeted  the  storm,  he  took  the  helm,  and  stood  for  hours  after  the 
others  had  ceased  to  make  exertion  ;  and  the  whole  crew  were  saved. 
Had  it  not  been  for  him,  long  before  the  storm  abated,  they  had  alJ 
probably  been  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 

Said  a  distinguished  navigator,  "  The  great  day  of  account  will 
bear  terrible  witness,  when  the  sea  shall  give  up  the  dead  that  are 
in  it,  of  the  vast  and  unsuspected  extent  of  the  sacrifice  of  life 
among  seamen,  from  shipwrecks,  and  other  catastrophes  occasioned 
by  drunkenness.     One  distressful  instance,  among  the  numbers  that 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

will  hereafter  be  brought  to  light,  occurred  within  my  own  observa- 
tion. A  collier  brig  was  stranded  on  the  York  coast ;  and  I  had 
occasion  to  assist  in  the  interesting,  but  distressing  service  of  rescu- 
ing a  part  of  the  crew  by  drawing  them  up  a  vertical  cliff",  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  in  altitude,  by  means  of  a  deep-sea  lead-line,  the 
only  rope  that  could  be  procured.  The  first  two  men  who  caught 
hold  of  this  slender  line,  were  hauled  safely  up  the  frightful  cliff; 
Out  the  next,  after  being  drawn  to  a  considerable  height,  slipped  his 
hold,  and  he  fell;  and  with  the  fourth  and  last,  who  ventured  upon 
this  only  chance  of  life,  the  rope  gave  way,  and  he  also  was  plunged 
into  foaming  breakers  beneath.  Immediately  afterwards,  the  vessel 
broke  up,  and  the  remnant  of  the  ill-fated  crew,  with  the  exception 
of  two,  who  were  washed  into  a  cavern  in  the  cliff,  perished  before 
our  eyes.  But  what  was  the  cause  of  this  heart-rending  event  ? 
Was  it  stress  of  weather,  or  bewildering  fog,  or  unavoidable  acci- 
dent ?  No ;— it  arose  entirely  from  the  want  of  sobriety ;  every  sailor, 
to  a  man,  being  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  The  vessel,  but  a  few  hours 
before,  had  sailed  from  Sunderland  ;  the  men  being  drunk,  a  boyr 
unacquainted  with  the  coast,  was  intrusted  with  the  helm.  He  ran 
the  brig  upon  Whitby  Rock,  and  one  half  of  the  miserable,  dissi- 
pated crew  awoke  to  consciousness  in  eternity  !  To  this  solitary 
instance  I  might  add  many ;  but  this  must  suffice,  both  as  to  illus- 
tration and  proof  of  the  terrible  consequences  of  intemperance  at 
sea." 

Numerous  other  cases,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  might  be 
mentioned,  illustrative  of  the  same  truth  ;  and,  should  the  use  of  spirit- 
uous liquors  be  done  away,  the  risk  of  property  on  the  ocean  and 
the  rate  of  insurance  might  be  lessened  probably  more  than  half. 
And  it  is  hoped  that  the  time  is  not  distant,  when  no  merchant  will 
suffer  this  grand  cause  of  immorality,  disease,  and  death,  temporal 
and  eternal,  to  be  found  on  board  his  vessel  j  and  when  it  shall  not 
be  used,  as  an  article  of  luxury  or  diet,  or  sold  by  any  sober  man, 
especially  by  any  Christian,  in  our  land. 

Nor  will  the  prevention  of  the  loss  of  property,  in  that  case,  be 
confined  to  the  ocean.  The  Hon.  William  C  ranch,  chief  judge  of 
the  District  of  Columbia,  who  is  extensively  known  as  a  candid  and 
accurate  reporter  of  principles  and  facts,  in  an  Address  which  he 
delivered  before  the  Washington  and  Alexandria  Temperance 
Societies,  estimates  the  loss  annually  in  the  United  States,  from  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits,  at  not  less  than  $94,425,000.*  In  this  esti- 
mate, he  has  taken  no  account  of  what  is  lost  by  shipwrecks,  sick- 
ness, and  in  various  other  ways.  But  even  this  sum  would,  in  thirty 
years,  amount  to  more  than  the  value  of  all  the  houses,  lands  and 
slaves  in  the.  United  States.     These  were  estimated,  m  1815,  at 

Appendix,  J. 


FOURTH    REPORT.— "1831.  37 

$1,771,312,903.  And  if  the  value  of  them  has  since  increased 
in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  population,  it  would  now  be 
$2,519,009,222.  And  the  loss  to  the  consumers  of  ardent  spirits, 
and  to  the  community,  in  thirty  years,  would,  according  to  the  fore- 
going estimate,  be  $2,832,750,000,  which  is  $313,740,778  more 
than  the  value  of  all  the  houses  and  land  in  the  United  States  ;  thus 
exhibiting  to  the  world  the  awful  spectacle  of  a  people  losing,  by  the 
use  of  strong  drink,  in  thirty  years,  $31 3,740,7  78  more  than  the 
value  of  their  whole  country.  And  all  for  what  ?  To  gratify  an 
artificial  and  destructive  appetite,  which  men  do  not  need,  and 
which  they  had  better  be  without ;  which  God  does  not  give  them, 
but  which  they,  by  their  own  voluntary  and  wicked  conduct,  form. 
And  if  the  crimes,  which  are  prosecuted  annually  in  the  United 
States,  are  only  one  fifth  as  many,  in  proportion  to  the  population, 
as  in  the  city  of  New  Yoik,  and  should  they  not  increase  with  the 
increase  of  population,  they  would,  in  thirty  years,  amount  to 
1,800,000  ;  more  than  1,000,000  of  which  must,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  judges  and  jurists,  be  attributed  to  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits.  And  of  the  7,200  murders  which  will,  should  the  present 
number  not  increase,  in  that  time  be  committed,  more  than  5000 
of  them  must  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause.  And  of  all  the 
deaths  which  will  in  that  time  take  place,  in  the  United  States, 
more  than  900,000  must  be  considered,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  the  most  distinguished  physicians,  as  occasioned  by  strong  drink. 
Or,  if  we  take  the  number  who  are  killed  by  it  in  Philadelphia,  as 
stated  by  a  committee  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  as  the  average 
proportion,  being  in  that  city  seven  hundred  in  a  year,  it  would 
make  more  than  1,500,000.  In  one  place,  of  only  6000  inhab- 
itants, the  chief  magistrate,  being  himself  an  eminent  physician,  in- 
formed our  Secretary,  that  twenty-eight  in  that  place  were  killed  by 
strong  drink  in  one  year.  This  would  make,  in  thirty  years,  eight 
hundred  and  forty.  And  if  eight  hundred  and  forty  would  be  killed 
in  a  population  of  6000,  how  many  would  be  killed,  in  that  time, 
among  12,000,000?  The  proportion  would  be  1,680,000:  while 
the  use  of  this  poison,  without  affording  the  least  benefit,  would 
greatly  increase  the  diseases,  lessen  the  reason,  and  diminish  the 
happiness  of  all  who  used  it ;  and,  upon  an  average,  would  shorten 
their  lives  probably  at  least  five  years.  And  if  drunkards,  upon  an 
average,  shorten  life  only  ten  years,  and  temperate  drinkers  five, 
and  there  are  only  four  sober  drinkers  to  one  drunkard,  it  would 
cause  a  loss  in  the  United  States,  in  thirty  years,  of  32,400,000 
years  of  human  probation  and  of  active  usefulness  ;  in  a  world,  too, 
in  which  every  noble  and  benevolent  deed  might  model  the  charac- 
ter, and  tell  on  the  destinies  of  men,  for  eternity.  Amazing  loss ! 
And  when  we  consider  the  effect  of  this  poison,  in  deteriorating  the 
character,  blinding  the  understanding,  searing  the  conscience,  and 
4 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

hardening  the  heart ;  when  we  see  it  tend  to  hinder  die  success  of 
the  gospel,  and  prevent  the  efficacy  of  all  the  means  of  grace ;  and 
to  perpetuate  and  accumulate  its  deleterious  influence  over  all 
future  generations  of  men, — the  evils  become  overwhelming. 

And  yet,  by  abstaining  from  their  cause,  these  evils  may  be  done 
away  ;  without  injury  to  any,  and  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  all.  And 
as  more  than  a  thousand  among  the  most  intelligent  physicians  on 
the  globe,  have  certified,  that  men  in  health  do  not  need  ardent 
spirit,  and  cannot,  without  injury,  use  it ;  and  as  the  correctness  of 
this  opinion  is  proved  abundantly  by  facts,  in  the  experience  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  and  in  all  kinds 
of  business, — the  conviction  is  extending  and  deepening,  and  tend- 
ing to  become  universal,  that  no  person  can  continue  to  use  it,  or 
be  accessory  to  the  use  of  it  by  others,  without,  if  acquainted  with 
the  subject,  the  accumulation  of  awful  and  overwhelming  guilt. 

This  conviction  is  manifested  by  the  increasing  numbers  who 
are  voluntarily  withdrawing  from  all  connection  with  this  abomina- 
tion, and  pledging  themselves  to  use  all  suitable  means  to  persuade 
all  others  to  do  the  same. 

Fifteen  Temperance  Societies,  on  the  plan  of  abstinence,  were, 
the  past  year,  formed  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  embracing  more 
than  2000  members.  A  State  Society  was  also  formed  in  Mary- 
land, in  Delaware,  and  in  seven  other  states.  Eleven  had  been 
formed  before,  making,  in  all,  at  the  present  time,  eighteen  State 
Societies.  There  is  one  in  each  state,  except  Maine,  Rhode 
Island,*  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri.  And  it  is 
hoped,  that  a  State  Society  will  soon  be  formed  in  every  state  in 
the  Union.  And  should  each  State  Society,  as  is  earnestly  desired 
by  this  Society,  employ  an  agent,  and  take  the  direction  of  this 
cause  within  their  own  limits,  and  temperate  men  do  their  duty,  a 
Temperance  Society  may  soon  be  formed  in  every  county,  town 
and  village  in  the  country. 

On  the  first  of  May,  1831,  there  were  reported  140  Societies 
in  Maine,  96  in  New  Hampshire,  132  in  Vermont,  209  in  Massa- 
chusetts, 21  in  Rhode  Island,  202  in  Connecticut,  727  in  New 
York,  61  in  New  Jersey,  124  in  Pennsylvania,  5  in  Delaware,  38  in 
Maryland,  10  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  113  in  Virginia,  31  in 
North  Carolina,  16  in  South  Carolina,  60  in  Georgia,  1  in  Florida, 
10  in  Alabama,  19  in  Mississippi,  3  in  Louisiana,  15  in  Tennessee, 
23  in  Kentucky,  104  in  Ohio,  25  in  Indiana,  12  in  Illinois,  4  in 
Missouri,  and  13  in  Michigan  Territory;  making,  in  all,  more  than 
2200,  and  embracing  more  than  170,000  members.  These  members 
have  been  constantly  increasing,  and  have,  in  many  cases,  been 

*  A  State  Society  has  since  been  formed  in  Rhode  Island,  making  at  the  pres- 
ent time,  19  State  Societies. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  39 

more  than  doubled  since  they  were  reported.  There  are  also 
numerous  Societies  which  have  been  formed,  and  some  of  them 
embracing  large  districts  of  country,  not  contained  in  the  above  list, 
and  from  which  no  returns  have  been  received.  The  number  be- 
longing to  Societies  which  are  not  reported,  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  are  supposed,  by  the  Committee  of  the  State  Society,  to 
amount  to  more  than  30,000.  In  other  states  from  which  the 
returns  have  been  less  general  and  complete,  the  number,  in  pro- 
portion, is  still  greater.  In  Kentucky,  in  which  but  23  have  been 
reported  to  us,  containing  only  about  1G00  members,  a  correspond- 
ent writes,  that  they  have,  in  his  opinion,  nearly  100  Societies,  and 
not  much  short  of  15,000  members.  So  it  may  be  in  other  states; 
and  from  the  best  information  which  has  been  obtained,  the  Com- 
mittee conclude  that  there  are  now  formed,  in  the  United  States,  on 
the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  more  than 
3000  Temperance  Societies,  containing  more  than  300,000  mem- 
bers. 

From  the  influence  of  these  Societies,  and  other  causes,  300,000 
more  may  have  adopted  the  plan  of  not  using  it,  or  furnishing  it 
for  the  use  of  others.  Connected  with  these,  600,000  of  children 
and  persons  in  their  employment,  and  under  their  control,  may 
be  as  many  more.  And  thus  1,200,000  may  already  have  been 
brought  under  the  influence,  and  may  now  be  experiencing  the 
benefit,  of  the  Temperance  Reformation.  Among  these,  should 
they  continue  to  refrain  from  intoxicating  drink,  there  will  never  be 
a  drunkard  :  whereas,  had  they  continued  in  habits  which  prevailed 
five  years  ago,  50,000  of  them  might  have  come  to  the  drunkard's 
grave. 

So  that,  should  this  reform  now  be  merely  stationary,  and  make 
no  further  progress,  it  may  have  saved  50,000  from  the  drunkard's 
doom ;  and  how  many  it  would  save  of  their  children,  and  children's 
children,  none  but  God  can  determine. 

In  one  case,  as  our  Secretary  was  informed,  a  father  adopted 
the  plan  of  using  a  little  ardent  spirit  every  day.  He  was  never 
intoxicated,  and  never  thought  to  be  in  the  least  intemperate. 
He  only  took  a  little,  a  very  little,  because  he  thought  that  it  did 
him  good.  For  the  same  reason,  his  children  took  a  little,  daily  ; 
and  so  did  their  children.  And  now,  no  less  than  40  of  his  de- 
scendants are  drunkards,  or  in  the  drunkard's  grave. 

Another  man  adopted  a  different  plan  ;  he  would  not  use  ardent 
spirit ;  he  would  not  purchase  it ;  nor  would  he  suffer  it  to  enter 
his  house.  He  taught  his  children  to  treat  it  as  a  poison,  a  mortal 
poison  ;  and  they  taught  their  children.  And  now,  there  is  not  a 
drunkard  among  them  ;  nor  has  one  of  his  descendants  ever 
come  to  the  drunkard's  grave.  Long,  long  may  it  be,  before  any 
one  ever  shall.     And  when  the  long  lines  of  descendants  of  these 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

two  men,  through  all  future  ages,  shall  rise  up  before  them,  and 
before  the  universe,  in  the  blazing  light  of  eternity,  who  can  es- 
timate the  difference  of  results,  of  the  different  courses  adopted 
and  pursued  by  their  progenitors  ?  None  but  He,  who  seeth  the 
end  from  the  beginning,  and  to  whom  they  have  both  now  gone  to 
render  their  account. 

If  such  may  be  the  difference  of  result  from  a  single  individual 
adopting  the  plan  of  abstinence,  from  what  it  might  have  been,  had 
he  adopted  the  plan  of  moderate  drinking,  and  in  two  generations, 
who  can  estimate  the  difference,  from  the  plan  of  abstinence  having 
been  adopted  by  1,200,000, — 50,000  of  whom  might  have  been 
drunkards,  and  1,150,000  habitual  drinkers, — down  through  all 
future  generations  to  the  end  of  the  world — and  onward  to  eternity  ? 
And  here  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that  more  than  3000  of  those  who 
now  abstain,  actually  were  drunkards ;  who,  should  they  continue 
their  present  course,  will  have  been  saved  with  a  great  salva- 
tion. And  this  might  have  been  the  case  with  more  than  6000 
others,  who  are  drunkards  still.  They  ceased  to  use  strong  drink 
for  a  time,  and  were  sober  men.  Such  they  might  have  been  now  ; 
and  not  only  sober  men,  but  respectable  men,  a  comfort  and  a 
blessing  to  all  around  them  ;  had  not  some  sober  drinker,  or  some 
retailer, — whose  name,  were  it  to  number  the  evils  which  he  has  oc- 
casioned, would  be  Legion,  for  they  are  many, — enticed  them  to 
go  back,  and  perish. 

To  a  respectable  stranger,  in  a  province  of  a  neighboring  kingdom, 
our  Secretary  handed  a  temperance  tract,  and  said,  "  Sir,  the  man 
who  wrote  that  tract  was  once  a  drunkard."  "  And  so,"  said  the 
stranger,  with  tearful  emotion,  "  was  the  man  who  now  holds  it." 
But  he  is  not  a  drunkard  now.  No ;  he  adopted  the  plan  of  absti- 
nence ;  has  since,  it  is  believed,  chosen  that  good  part  which  shall 
not  be  taken  from  him ;  and  is  shedding  on  a  wide  circle  of  ac- 
quaintance the  lifegiving  and  purifying  influence  of  a  consistent 
Christian  example.  He  is  a  warm  advocate,  and  active  promoter 
of  the  temperance  cause  ;  and  through  his  influence,  and  that  of 
others,  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  it  will  spread  through  the 
province. 

A  respectable  merchant,  in  one  of  our  principal  cities,  said,  "  1 
shall  have  reason  to  remember  the  Temperance  Cause  as  long  as  1 
live.  Had  it  not  been  for  that,  I,  before  now,  should  have  been 
a  drunkard."  On  relating  this  fact  to  a  merchant,  in  another  city, 
"  And  so,"  said  he,  "  should  I.  I  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin  ;  but  it 
saved  me."  And  the  grace  of  God  came  in,  and  he,  it  is  believed, 
was  doubly  saved.  "  Yes,"  said  he,  with  grateful  emphasis,  as  he 
looked  on  his  wife  and  children,  "  and  I  will  give  a  hundred  dollars 
a  year,  to  spread  the  Temperance  Reformation  through  the 
country." 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  41 

And  who,  that  has  a  hundred  dollars  of  the  Lord's  property,  and 
can,  consistently  with  duty,  will  not  give  it,  to  spread  the  Temper- 
ance Reform  throughout  our  country,  and  throughout  the  world  ? 
In  what  possible  way  can  that  amount,  annually,  from  one  hundred 
men,  to  whom  the  Lord  has  committed  property,  with  the  inscrip- 
tion "  Occupy  till  I  come,"  do  more  good  to  the  temporal  and  eter- 
nal interests  of  men? 

Suppose  the  American  Temperance  Society  has,  within  the  last 
five  years,  expended  $10,000,  and  other  Societies  and  individuals 
have  expended,  in  this  cause,  as  much  more  ;  in  what  way  did 
$20,000  ever  do  more  good  ?  In  what  way  was  $20,000  ever 
more  productive  in  the  accumulation  of  property  ?  or,  what  is  bettei , 
in  the  saving  of  property,  character,  health,  reason,  lives  and  souls 
of  men  ? 

In  the  county  of  Baltimore,  in  Maryland,  out  of  1134  paupers, 
admitted  to  the  alms-house  from  May,  1829,  to  May,  1830,  1059 
were  brought  there  by  intemperance  ;  viz.  of  temperate  adults,  24 ; 
of  adults  whose  habits  were  not  known,  24  ;  children  of  temperate 
parents,  13  ;  children  of  parents  whose  habits  were  not  known,  14; 
children  of  intemperate  parents,  115  ;  and  intemperate  adults,  944  : 
total  of  temperate  adults,  and  persons  whose  habits  were  not  known, 
and  their  children,  75  ;  and  of  intemperate  adults  and  their  children, 
1059. 

In  the  county  of  Cumberland,  Pennsylvania,  of  50  paupers,  48 
were  made  such  by  intemperance.  And  in  the  county  of  Oneida, 
New  York,  out  of  253,  246  were  made  paupers  in  the  same  way. 

"  According  to  a  Report  of  the  superintendents  of  the  Wash- 
ington county  (N.  Y.)  poor-house,  out  of  322  persons  received  intc 
that  house  since  its  establishment,  290  were  sent  there  in  conse- 
quence of  their  own  intemperance,  or  that  of  others. 

"  According  to  a  statement  made  by  Col.  Hoffman,  nineteen 
twentieths  of  the  inmates  of  the  Montgomery  county  (N.  Y.)  poor- 
house,  owe  their  situation  to  intemperance." 

And  the  superintendent  of  the  Albany  alms-house  states,  that, 
were  it  not  for  the  use  of  strong  drink,  that  establishment  would  be 
tenantless.  And  substantially  so  it  would  be  throughout  this  coun- 
try ;  and  in  proportion  as  the  Temperance  Reform  has  prevailed, 
alms-houses  have  become  tenantless,  and  crimes  been  done  away. 

The  solicitor  general,  at  the  sitting  of  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
the  county  of  Hampden,  Massachusetts,  remarked,  that  he  found 
but  one  indictment  for  crime  in  the  county  of  Worcester  ;  but  one 
in  the  county  of  Hampshire  ;  and  but  three  in  the  county  of  Hamp- 
den ;  and  that,  in  all  parts  of  the  state,  the  indictments  for  crimes 
had  surprisingly  diminished  within  two  years.  And  he  could 
ascribe  this  change  in  favor  of  virtue  and  good  order,  to  no  other 
cause  than  the  influence  of  Temperance  Societies,  and  the  great 
4* 


42  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

change,  which  they  had  been  the  means  of  effecting  with  regard  to 
the  use  of  strong  drink. 

"  The  keeper  of  the  Ogdensburg  (N.  Y.)  jail  states,  that  seven 
eighths  of  the  criminals,  and  three  fourths  of  the  debtors,  imprisoned 
there,  are  intemperate  persons. 

"  Of  the  first  690  children  sent  to  the  New  York  house  of 
refuge  after  its  establishment,  401  were  known  to  be  children  of 
intemperate  parents. 

"  In  two  districts  in  Upper  Canada,  38  out  of  44  inquests  held 
by  the  coroners,  were,  in  cases  of  death,  caused  by  intemperance. 

"  The  keeper  of  the  Ohio  penitentiary,  in  his  Report  to  the  Leg- 
islature of  that  state,  Dec.  1829,  says,  that,  of  the  134  prisoners 
under  his  care,  36  only  claimed  to  be  temperate  men. 

"  The  sheriff  of  Washington  county,  Pa.,  stated,  last  year,  that, 
out  of  24  committals,  21  were  caused  by  intemperance. 

"  In  Litchfield  county,  Ct.,  the  proportion  of  criminals  who  are 
intemperate,  is  35  out  of  39." 

"  My  belief  is,"  says  the  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  New 
York  State  Society,  "  that  this  state  has  saved,  during  the  last  year, 
in  the  lessened  use  of  ardent  spirits,  $6,250,000.  And  it  is  entirely 
past  all  calculation  to  estimate  the  great  increase  of  wealth  to  the 
state  in  labor,  more  usefully  and  more  vigorously  applied  to  every 
department  of  industry.  And  since  rum  has  been  dismissed,  and 
the  mind  has  recovered  its  healthful  tone,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
has  a  power,  and  has  been  at  work,  in  various  parts  of  this  state, 
in  a  wonderful  manner ;  and  all  appear  to  agree,  now,  that  the  too 
common  use  of  ardent  spirits  has  been  one  great  cause  of  apathy 
on  religious  subjects." 

The  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Society  estimate  the 
saving,  in  the  cost  of  spirits  alone,  at  $2,000,000  the  last  year. 
"But,"  they  say,  "our  greatest  gains  from  the  Temperance  Refor- 
mation are  not  to  be  estimated  in  dollars.  They  are  manifest 
in  our  improved  morals,  and  in  the  fresh  vigor  which  is  infused  into 
every  branch  of  industry.  They  are  manifest  in  the  unexampled 
prosperity  which  pervades  our  state,  and  which  all  candid  observers 
agree  in  ascribing  so  largely  to  the  arrest  of  the  desolating  tide  of 
intemperance.  They  are  manifest,  the  Christian  is  sure,  in  the 
unprecedented  attention  to  religion  in  all  parts  of  the  state  ;  for 
our  greatest  enemy  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  minds  of 
men,  is  more  than  half  conquered."* 

Equally  conspicuous  and  salutary  is  the  effect  on  the  health  of 
the  community.  Said  a  distinguished  physician  in  Massachusetts, 
"  Since  our  people  have  given  up  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  the 
amount  of  sickness  has  been  diminished  about  half.     And  1  have 

*  Appendix,    K. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  43 

no  doubt,  should  the  people  of  the  United  States  renounce  the  use 
of  spirituous  liquors,  nearly  half  the  diseases  of  the  country  would 
be  prevented." 

And  said  another  eminent  physician,  after  forty  years'  extensive 
practice  and  observation,  "I  have  no  doubt  that  half  the  men,  every 
year,  who  die  of  fevers,  might  recover,  had  it  not  been  for  the  use 
of  spirituous  liquors.  No  one  but  a  physician  knows  how  power- 
fully all  inflammatory  diseases  are  increased,  even  by  what  is  called 
temperate  drinking  ;  or  how  fatally  the  best  remedies  in  the  world 
are  counteracted  by  the  same  cause.  I  have  seen  men  who  were 
never  intoxicated,  down  twenty  days  with  a  fever,  who,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  probably  would  not  have  been 
confined  to  the  house  a  day.  And  I  have  often  seen  men  stretched 
on  a  bed  of  fever,  who,  to  all  human  appearance,  might  be  raised  up 
as  well  as  not,  were  it  not  for  that  state  of  the  system,  which  daily 
temperate  drinking  produces ;  who  now,  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be 
done,  sink  down  and  die."  And  the  decrease  in  the  bills  of  mor- 
tality, among  those  who  have  renounced  the  use  of  strong  drink, 
exhibits  evidence,  that,  should  this  course  be  adopted  by  all,  the 
number  of  deaths  annually  in  the  country,  would  be  lessened  more 
than  50,000. 

And  facts,  so  far  as  they  have  been  developed,  as  well  as  the 
nature  of  the  case,  give  reason  to  believe,  that  the  same  amount  or 
moral  means,  employed  for  huma.n  benefit,  would  more  than  double 
their  influence  and  their  benefits  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men. 
The  special  attention  which  is  now  manifested  to  the  great  interests 
of  the  soul,  and  of  eternity,  under  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit, 
in  fourteen  colleges,  and  more  than  five  hundred  towns,  in  which 
the  effects  of  the  Temperance  Reformation  have  been  most  con- 
spicuous, speaks  with  a  voice  that  will  be  heard,  and  heeded  by 
the  friends  of  God  throughout  the  earth. 

Men  who  have  given  up  the  waters  of  death,  have,  in  great  num- 
bers, under  the  means  which  God  has  appointed  and  blessed  for 
that  purpose,  passed  from  death  unto  life.*  Many  more  have 
been  saved  from  becoming  drunkards,  and  from  the  drunkard's 
grave. 

From  a  town  of  about  2000  inhabitants,  a  correspondent  writes, 
"  We  have  not  a  drunkard  in  the  place,  except  those  that  were 
such  when  our  Temperance  Society  was  formed,  four  years  ago. 
Not  a  new  drunkard  has  since  been  made."  Yet,  had  the  people 
of  that  town  continued  in  the  habits  which  prevailed  five  years  ago, 
and  furnished  new  drunkards,  in  proportion  to  their  population, 
they  had  made,  in  four  years,  not  less  than  24  new  drunkards. 
And  if  24  have  been  saved  from  becoming  drunkards,  among  2000 

*  Appenbix,  h. 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

inhabitants,  how  many  may  have  been  saved  among  12,000,000? 
The  proportion  would  be  144,000.  But  it  may  be  said,  that 
the  Temperance  Reformation  has  not  prevailed  through  the  country, 
as  it  has  through  that  town.  This  is  true.  Let  us,  therefore,  take 
another  proportion.  In  that  town  are  not  over  700  members  of  the 
Temperance  Society;  and  if  24  have  been  saved  from  becoming 
drunkards,  by  700  members  of  the  Temperance  Society,  and  such 
as  act  with  them,  how  many  have  been  saved  by  300,000,  and 
those  who  act  with  them?  The  proportion  would  be  10,285. 
And  the  Committee  know  of  no  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  more 
than  the  real  number,  who,  in  four  years,  have  been  saved  from 
becoming  drunkards.  And  if  to  these  we  add  the  3,000  who  were 
drunkards,  and  who  now  do  not  use  the  drunkard's  drink,  we  have 
13,285  sober  men,  who  would  otherwise  have  been  drunkards. 
And  the  prospect  of  their  comfort  and  usefulness  in  this  life,  and 
their  salvation  in  eternity,  is  increased,  should  they  continue  to 
abstain,  a  hundred  fold. 

And  let  the  Temperance  Reformation  become  as  general,  and 
as  efficacious  throughout  the  country,  as  it  has  been  in  that  town, 
and  it  might  save,  in  30  years,  1,080,000  from  the  drunkard's  life, 
the  drunkard's  death,  and  the  drunkard's  eternity. 

It  might  save,  also,  multitudes  of  their  children,  and  children's 
children,  through  all  future  ages,  from  being  swept,  by  that 
burning  current,  to  "the  lake  of  fire,  which  is  the  second 
death.'' 

And  $10,000  a  year,  judiciously  applied,  and  attended,  as  past 
efforts  have  been,  by  the  blessing  of  the  Most  High,  might  render 
the  temperance  efforts  as  efficacious,  throughout  our  country,  as 
they  have  been  in  that  town.  In  what  way,  then,  the  Committee 
would  ask  again,  can  that  amount  of  property  be  annually  expended 
to  greater  advantage  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of  men  ? 

3000  drunkards  already  reclaimed  ;  10,285  sober  men  kept  from 
becoming  drunkards;  1,200,000  abstaining  from  the  drunkard's 
drink,  50,000  of  whom,  had  they  continued  to  use  it,  might  have 
become  drunkards  ;  and  as  many  more  of  their  children  in  eve- 
ry future  generation;  the  quantity  used  by  11,000,000  more 
greatly  diminished,  and  the  pauperism,  crimes,  sickness,  insanity 
and  death  diminished  in  proportion ;  one  of  the  mightiest  obstruc- 
tions to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel  and  all  the  means  of  grace  re- 
moved, and  those  means  rendered  proportionably  more  efficacious, 
in  the  moral  and  spiritual  illumination  and  purification  of  men ; — 
and  all  for  how  much?  $20,000;  which,  if  divided  among  the 
drunkards  reclaimed  and  the  sober  men,  who  in  five  years  have  been 
saved  from  becoming  drunkards,  would  amount  to  $1,50  to  a  man  ; 
or,  if  divided  among  the  1,200,000,  who  abstain  from  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit,  would  be  less  than  two  cents  to  an  individual ;  while 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  45 

the  loss  to  the  country  by  desertions  from  the  army,  of  the  men  who 
used  strong  drink,  was,  in  the  same  space  of  time,  more  than  $50 
to  a  man  :  or  more  than  $342,188,  exclusive  of  the  expenses  of  the 
courts-martial  to  try  them.  Is  it  not  cheaper,  then,  to  induce  men 
to  renounce  the  use  of  strong  drink,  than  it  is  to  furnish  it,  and 
then  take  care  of  them  ? 

Facts  justify  the  belief,  that  should  100  men  give  100  dollars 
annually  to  promote  this  cause,  they  may  be  instrumental  in  annually 
saving  ten  thousand  lives,  and  ten  million  dollars ;  and  may  exert 
an  influence  in  the  highest  degree  salutary  to  the  social,  civil,  and 
religious  interests  of  men ;  which  shall  be  felt  in  its  effects  to  all 
future  generations,  and  shall  tell,  in  accents  of  glory,  upon  the 
destinies  of  millions  to  eternity. 

In  one  town  in  Maine,  containing  a  population  of  about  1000, 
a  Temperaice  Society  was  formed  about  four  years  ago.  Before 
the  formation  of  that  Society,  the  quantity  of  ardent  spirit  sold  was 
10,000  gal.ons  a  year ;  and  there  were  17  retailers  licensed  to  sell  it. 
Now,  there  are  none ;  and  not  more  than  200  gallons  are  used  in 
the  town.  Before,  there  were  53  drunkards  ;  and  now,  there  are 
but  29.  24  have  ceased  to  use  strong  drink,  and  are  at  present 
completely  reformed.  Should  an  equal  number,  in  proportion  to 
the  papulation  throughout  the  United  States,  be  induced  to  adopt 
the  same  course,  which,  by  the  use  of  suitable  means,  maybe  done, 
it  would  amount  to  288,000.  Yes,  288,000,  who  are  now  drunk- 
ards, ma/  be  led  to  abandon  the  use  of  that  which  intoxicates,  and 
who,  should  they  continue  to  abstain,  will  have  been  saved  from 
an  awful  and  overwhelming  ruin. 

But  D  accomplish  this,  means  must  be  used.  Men  must  not  be 
licenced  to  poison  and  destroy  their  fellow  men.  No  sober  man, 
especially  no  professed  Christian,  must  be  willing,  for  the  sake  of 
money,  thus  to  become  accessory  to  their  temporal  and  eternal 
ruin.  If  they  are,  numbers,  who  refrain  for  a  time,  will  afterwards 
go  back  and  perish  ;  and  the  guilt  of  blood  will  rest  on  them. 

"  Not  an  individual,"  writes  a  correspondent  from  a  town  in 
Massachusetts,  "  who  was  an  habitual  drunkard  when  our  Temper- 
ance Society  was  organized,  has  been  permanently  reformed.  Num- 
bers broke  off  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  for  a  time,  and  some  even 
joined  the  Temperance  Society.  But  they  have  all  gone  back, 
every  one." 

What  was  the  reason  ?  Some,  who  were  not  drunkards,  and 
some,  too,  who  professed  to  be  good  men,  and  who  had  covenanted, 
before  Heaven  and  earth,  to  do  good,  and  good  only,  as  they  had 
opportunity,  to  all  men,  for  a  mere  pittance  of  that  which  will  per- 
ish with  the  using,  if  it  does  not  eat  the  soul  like  fire,  would  furnish 
these  men  with  the  drunkard's  drink  ;  and  thus,  knowingly,  become 
accessory  to  the  drunkard's  ruin. 


46  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETJT. 

From  a  town  in  Connecticut  a  gentleman  states,  "  We  succeeded 
m  forming  a  large  Temperance  Society.  Several  of  the  drunkards 
ceased  to  use  spirituous  liquors.  They  appeared  like  new  men,  andr 
oh  !  their  families  appeared  to  be  in  a  new  world.  The  change 
was  wonderful.  But  they  have,  almost  all,  gone  back.  And  we 
cannot  help  it,  so  long  as  one  of  our  deacons  will  sell  rum.  They 
say,  '  If  it  is  not  wrong  for  the  deacon  to  seil  it,  it  is  not  wrong  for 
us  to  buy  it.  He  thinks  that  a  little  does  good,  and  so  do  we.' 
And  thus  they  go  down  to  ruin.     And,  oh !    their  families,  their 

wretched  families  ! but  we  cannot  help  them,   so  long  as  the 

deacon  will  sell  rum." 

No ;  if  deacons,  and  church  members,  and  sober  men,  will  con- 
tinue, for  the  sake  of  money,  to  sell  rum,  and  make  drunkards,  and 
thus  become  their  tempters  and  destroyers,  good  men,  and  the 
friends  of  humanity,  cannot  help  it.  Nor  can  they,  but  to  a  small 
extent,  furnish  relief  to  their  wretched  families.  Though  they  go 
with  an  angel's  kindness  and  with  an  angel's  freeness  pour  it  out 
upon  them — the  deacon,  or  the  church  member,  or  some  other 
retailer  of  pauperism,  crime,  sickness,  insanity  and  death,  for  25 
cents  will  throw  that  whole  family,  for  days,  into  all  the  agonies,  the 
heart-rending,  heart-breaking  agonies,  of  having  a  drunken  and  an 
infuriated  maniac  for  a  husband  and  a  father.  Yes,  for  25  cents, 
he  will  hear  the  scream  of  the  children,  and  see  them  run  away 
find  hide,  and  hear  the  groans  of  her  who  cannot  get  away ;  and 
though  she  comes,  when  the  storm  is  over,  and  beseeclies  him, 
with  tears,  not  10  sell  her  husband  the  madman's  poison,  lor  she 
and  her  children — and  her  tongue  falters  as  she  says  children — 
cannot  endure  it ;  yet,  for  25  cents,  he  will  sell  it  yet  agiin  and 
again, — till,  as  was  the  case  in  one  instance,  the  h'  riband  md  the 
Hither  went  home  from  the  deacon's  store,  and,  under  the  influence 
of  what  the  deacon  had  given  him,  murdered  bis  wife.  S  e  will 
never  again  beseech  him,  for  her  children's  sake,  and  the  Savior's 
sake,  not  to  sell  her  husband  rum.  No  ;  she  will  not  complain, 
nor  will  she  beseech  him  any  more.  But  his  own  children  may  do 
both.  One  of  them,  on  hearing  of  this  murder,  and  the  circum- 
stances, said,  "  Father,  do  you  not  think,  that,  in  the  day  ol  judg- 
ment, you  will  have  to  answrer  for  that  murder  ?"  And  must  not 
conscience,  when  awakened,  echo,  "  Murder  ! — Murder .'"  Why  ? 
Did  he  murder  that  woman  ?  No ;  but  he  gave  her  husband  that 
which  excited  him  to  do  it ;  when  he  knew,  from  the  testimony  of 
judges  and  jurists,  that  it  caused  more  than  three  fourths  of  all  the 
murders  in  the  United  States.  And  why  did  he  do  it?  For 
money.  How  much  ?  A  sum  so  great  that  a  man  could  not  with- 
stand it?  No;  for  less  than  25  cents.  Yes,  for  less  than  25  cents 
those  children  were  made  orphans ;  and  their  father,  when  our 
agent  passed  through  that  part  of  the  country,  was  in  prison  to  0© 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  47 

tried  for  his  life,  for  murdering  their  mother.  And  all  his  excuse 
was,  he  was  excited  to  do  it  by  what  he  received  from  the  deacon 
No  wonder  his  child  should  beseech  him  to  give  up  the  traffic, 
and  warn  him,  with  tears,  that,  if  he  did  not  do  it,  he  would  be,  at 
the  day  of  judgment,  stained  with  the  guilt  of  blood. 

It  rs  an  established  principle  of  law,  for  the  violation  of  which 
men  have  been  hanged,  that  the  accessory  and  the  principal,  in 
the  commission  of  crime,  are  both  guilty.  If  this  principle  is 
correct,  and  applies  to  divine  as  well  as  human  law,  and  the 
drunkard  cannot  enter  heaven,  what  will  be  the  condition  of  him 
who  is  accessory  to  the  making  of  drunkards  ?  who  furnishes  the 
materials,  and,  for  the  sake  of  gain,  sends  them  out,  to  all  who  will 
purchase  them,  when  he  knows  the  nature  and  effects  of  this  em- 
ployment ?     Can  he  enter  heaven  ? 

The  Committee  do  not  ask  these  questions  concerning  those  who 
were  engaged  in  this  traffic  when  its  nature  and  effects  were  not 
known,  and  when  it  was  supposed  to  be  consistent  with  the  Chris- 
tian religion  ;  but  only  concerning  those,  who,  since  its  nature  and 
consequences  are  known,  and  known  to  be  ruinous  to  the  temporal 
and  eternal  interests  of  men,  still  continue  it.  And  they  do  not 
make  such  inquiries  concerning  them,  but  with  the  kindest  feelings, 
both  toward  them  and  the  community. 

But  when  it  is  known  that  more  than  two  murders  in  a  week, 
upon  an  average,  are  committed  in  the  United  States,  through  the 
influence  of  ardent  spirit,  and  that  more  than  500  persons  in  a 
week  are  killed  by  the  use  of  it,  they  cannot  but  present  this  sub- 
ject, kindly  and  plainly,  to  the  consideration  of  all  sober  men. 

Said  a  man,  who,  in  those  days  of  ignorance  which  have  now 
gone  by,  was  engaged  in  this  traffic,  "  I  have  no  more  doubt  that 
I  have  killed  a  hundred  men,  than  if  I  had  taken  a  gun  and  shot 
them,  and  saw  every  one  of  them  fall  dead  at  my  feet." 

Said  another  merchant,  as  he  read  a  temperance  tract,  which  our 
Secretary  handed  him, — and  the  tears  rolled  plentifully  down  his 
cheeks, — "  I  never  thought  of  it.  I  have  been  selling  ardent  spirit 
for  many  years.  I  don't  know  about  this  making  drunkards.  I 
am  pretty  much  like  the  hearers  of  Paul,  almost  persuaded  f* 
meaning  that  he  was  almost  persuaded  to  abandon  the  traffic  as  an 
immoral,  and  a  wicked,  destructive  business.  He  went  to  a  tem- 
perance meeting — the  first  he  had  ever  attended — and  then  to 
another  ;  and  said  he,  "  It  is  now  settled.  I  will  never  purchase 
any  more  ardent  spirit  to  sell.  I  could  make  several  hundred 
dollars  a  year  by  the  sale  of  it ;  but  what  would  that  be  ?  Should 
I  continue  to  scatter  the  estates  of  my  neighbors,  make  wives 
widows,  and  children  orphans,  I  should  expect  my  own  children 
would  become  orphans,  and  their  wives  be  widows  v  as  God  visits 
the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  iO  the  third  and 


48  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

fourth  generation.*  If  you  will  take  some  money,  and  send  me  s 
parcel  of  those  little  books — I  know  ail  the  merchants  for  a  hundred 
miles  up  the  river — they  have,  many  of  them,  purchased  their  rum 
of  me, — I  will  take  a  journey,  and  get  them  to  give  up  the  traffic.'* 
The  little  books  have  been  sent  to  him,  and  the  result  of  his  labors 
eternity  will  disclose.  As  he  was  returning  from  the  temperance 
meeting,  he  met  one  of  his  old  customers,  who  had  come  nearly 
a  hundred  miles  to  purchase  goods,  of  which  rum  had  always 
formed  a  part.  And  he  said  to  him,  who  had  also  been  at  the 
temperance  meeting,  "  What  do  you  think  of  it  ?"  "  What !"'  said 
he  ;  "I  think  that  the  man  who  will  continue  to  sell  rum,  is  worse 
than  a  drunkard.  The  drunkard  kills  himself,  and  ruins  his  family  ; 
but  the  man  who  sells  rum,  makes  drunkards  by  hundreds.  And 
though  I  intended,  when  I  left  home,  to  buy  it,  I  have  concluded 
to  purchase  the  rest  of  my  goods,  and  leave  the  rum  behind." 
And  why  should  he  not  leave  it  behind  ?  Is  it  not  certain  that  the 
injury  which  the  use  of  it  would  occasion  to  others,  would  be 
greater  than  the  benefit  of  the  avails  to  him  ?  And  has  any  one  a 
right  to  benefit  himself  by  the  destruction  of  his  fellow  men  ? 

There  is  a  great  principle  of  the  divine  government,  which  is 
brought  to  view  in  the  Scriptures,  and  which  applies  strongly 
to  this  case.  If  an  Israelite  had  a  beast  which  was  dangerous, 
but  the  owner  did  not  know  it,  and  that  beast  killed  a  man,  the 
beast,  by  divine  direction,  must  be  slain ;  his  flesh  must  not  be 
eaten ;  the  owner  must  lose  the  whole,  as  a  testimony  to  the 
sacredness  of  human  life;  and  as  a  warning  to  all,  not  to  do  any 
tiling,  or  connive  at  any  thing,  which  should  lend  to  destroy  it. 
But  as  the  owner  did  not  know  that  his  beast  was  dangerous,  he  was 
not  otherwise  to  be  punished. 

But  if  it  had  been  testified  to  the  owner,  that  the  beast  was  dan- 
gerous, and  he  did  not  keep  him  in,  but  suffered  him  to  go  abroad, 
and  he  killed  a  man,  both  the  beast  and  his  owner  were,  by  God's- 
direction,  to  be  put  to  death.  The  man  was  held  responsible  for 
the  mischief  which  the  beast  might  do. 

Although  we  are  not  required,  or  permitted,  now,  to  execute  this 
law,  as  they  were  when  God  himself  was  Judge,  yet  the  reason  of 
this  law  remains.  It  is  founded  in  justice,  is  eternal,  and  the  spirit 
of  it  will  be  enforced  at  the  divine  tribunal. 

There  was  a  time  when  the  dangerous  and  destructive  qualities 
of  ardent  spirits  were  not  generally  known  to  the  owners.  Though 
they  killed  hundreds  and  thousands,  the  owners  would  not,  by  the 
above  rule,  be  held  responsible.  But  now  they  are  known.  Phy- 
sicians of  the  first  eminence,  and  in  great  numbers,  with  a  unanimity 
almost  unparalleled,  have  testified  that  ardent  spirit  is  dangerous 
and  destructive ;    that  men  in  health  cannot  use  it  without  injury ; 

•  Appendix,  M. 


FOURTH    REPORT.—- 1831,  49 

that  it  induces  and  aggravates  disease,  impairs  reason,  and  shortens 
life,  and  that  multitudes  are  killed  by  it  every  year.* 

Jurists,  too,  of  distinguished  character,  and  judges,  in  great  num- 
bers, have  testified,  that  this  liquor  occasions  a  great  majority  of 
all  the  crimes  which  are  committed.  One  says,  "  Of  eleven  mur- 
ders committed,  all,  except  one,  were  occasioned  by  strong  drink." 
Another  says,  "  Of  eleven  murders  committed,  all  were  occasioned 
by  intemperance."  Another  says,  "  Of  twenty  murders  examined 
by  me,  all  were  occasioned  by  spirituous  liquors."  And  another 
says,  "  Of  more  than  two  hundred  murders  committed  in  the  United 
States  in  a  year,  nearly  all  have  their  origin  in  drinking." 

These  facts,  and  many  others,  which  might  be  multiplied  to  an 
almost  indefinite  extent,  are  now  known  ;  and  they  are  known  to 
the  owners  of  ardent  spirit.  It  is  known,  too,  that  hundreds  of 
thousands  have  ceased  to  use  this  liquor,  and  that  their  health  and 
comfort,  and  those  of  their  families,  have  been  greatly  improved ; 
that  the  amount  and  severity  of  sickness  have  lessened,  and  the 
number  of  paupers,  crimes  and  deaths  been  diminished.  It  is 
known  that,  while  men  continue  to  use  this  liquor,  intemperance 
can  never  be  prevented,  and  its  evils  never  be  done  away.  It  is 
known,  too,  that  it  tends,  when  used  even  moderately,  to  hinder  the 
efficacy  of  the  gospel  and  prevent  the  salvation  of  men,  and  thus 
to  ruin  them,  not  for  time  only,  but  for  eternity.  All  this  is  known, 
and  known  to  the  owners  of  ardent  spirit.  And  if  they,  notwith- 
standing this,  not  only  suffer  it  to  go  abroad,  but  sell  it  to  all  who 
will  buy ;  send  it  out,  and  spread  it  through  the  community ;  let 
them  know,  let  it  be  told,  and  let  it  echo  through  creation,  that  they, 
by  Jehovah,  will  be  held  responsible,  at  his  tribunal,  for  its  effects. 
To  the  pauperism,  crimes,  and  wretchedness,  the  sickness,  insanity, 
and  deaths,  which  it  occasions,  and  to  the  ruin,  temporal  and  eter- 
nal, they  are  knowingly  and  voluntarily  accessory.  And  of  all 
the  obstructions  which  the  friends  of  temperance  now  meet  with, 
which  stand  in  the  way,  and  hinder  the  progress  of  that  mighty 
movement  which  God  has  awakened,  and  which  takes  hold  on  the 
destinies  of  unborn  millions  for  eternity,  these  men, — yes,  the  men 
who  traffic  in  ardent  spirit, — present  the  greatest. 

And  if  this  movement  is  ever  to  stop,  and  that  deluge  of  fire 
again  roll,  unobstructed,  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  land, 
scorching  and  withering,  consuming  and  annihilating,  all  that  is  fair, 
and  lovely,  and  excellent,  and  glorious  in  possession  and  in  prospect, 
these  men — the  men  who  continue  to  traffic  in  ardent  spirit — are 
to  bear  a  vast  and  ever-growing  portion  of  the  odium,  the  guilt,  and 
the  retribution,  of  this  tremendous  ruin.  They  not  only  sin  them- 
selves, but  they  tempt  others  to  sin.  They  stand  at  the  fountain  of 
death,  and  open  streams  which  may  roll  onwards,  after  they  are 
dead,  and  sweep  multitudes  to  the  world  of  wo. 
5  *  Appendix,  N. 


50  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

But  we  do  not  believe,  and  we  shall  not  admit,  till  we  behold  it, 
mat  this  mighty  movement,  which  God  has  commenced,  and  hith- 
erto carried  forward  with  a  rapidity,  and  to  an  extent,  altogether 
unexampled  in  the  history  of  man,  and  which  is  now  spoken  of,  in 
both  hemispheres,  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  world,  is  ever  to 
stop,  till  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  as  an  article 
of  luxury  or  diet,  is  abandoned  by  every  good  man  in  our  country. 
We  cannot  believe,  that  any  good  man,  or  any  man  that  expects  to 
render  an  account  for  the  influence  which  he  exerts  on  the  world, 
when  he  sees  what  he  is  doing,  will  consent,  for  the  sake  of  money, 
to  be  actively  instrumental  in  destroying  the  bodies  and  souls  of 
men.  We  cannot  believe  that,  for  the  sake  of  money,  good  men 
will  consent,  when  they  know  what  they  do,  to  deal  out  the  cause 
of  pauperism  and  crime,  sickness,  insanity  and  death ;  to  raise  a 
barrier  against  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  help  the 
great  adversary  to  people  the  world  of  wo.  Even  should  human 
governments  continue  to  license  such  a  business,  we  cannot  believe 
that  good  men,  or  any  men  who  regard  the  welfare  of  their 
fellow  men,  will  continue  to  consent  to  take  out  such  a  license,  or 
to  use  it,  for  all  the  wealth  of  the  world.  That  light  and  love 
which  have  already  led  more  than  1,000,000  to  give  up  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit,  and  more  than  3000,  who  were  engaged  in  the  traffic, 
to  renounce  it,  will,  we  trust,  if  kindly,  universally  and  perseveringly 
diffused,  and  attended,  as  they  have  been,  by  the  mighty  power  of 
Him  who  worketh  all  in  all,  lead  all  good  men  to  do  the  same. 

More  than  1000  distilleries  have  already  been  stopped  ;  and  the 
owners  of  many  would  not  again  open  them  for  the  wealth  of  cre- 
ation. In  one  town,  in  which  were  16  of  these  fountains  of  death, 
there  are  now  but  3 ;  and  those,  it  is  believed,  furnish  a  less 
quantity  of  the  poison,  destroy  a  less  number  of  lives,  and  ruin 
fewer  souls  than  they  did  when  the  whole  were  in  operation.  One 
brass-founder  states,  that  he  has  bought  30  stills,  and  sold  but  one 
In  many  towns,  this  destroyer  is  not  even  sold.  Among  more  than 
100,000  people,  none,  except  keepers  of  public  houses,  have  license 
to  sell  it;  and  from  more  than  100  public  houses  it  is  excluded. 
The  owners  will  not  consent,  for  the  sake  of  money,  to  poison  even 
the  traveler  ;  and  he  finds,  often  to  his  amazement,  that  he  can  be 
received  cheerfully,  treated  politely,  and  refreshed  abundantly,  by 
those  who  furnish  nothing  adapted  to  destroy  him.  And  why, 
should  these  and  similar  facts  be  made  known  to  all,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit  incline  them  to  do  their  duty,  may  we  not  expect  this  to  be 
the  case,  throughout  our  land,  and  throughout  the  world. 

Many  churches,  now,  do  not  believe  that  any  man  among  them, 
while  he  continues,  for  the  sake  of  money,  to  ruin  his  fellow  men, 
by  furnishing  them  with  ardent  spirit,  can  give  credible  evidence 
that  he  is  a  good  man.     And  why,  should  the  true  light  continue  to 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  51 

shine,  and  become  universal,  must  not  this  be  the  conviction  of  all. 
Some  churches  have  expressed  this  by  vote,  and  dius  assisted  to 
awaken  public  attention,  and  correct  public  sentiment,  on  this  sub- 
ject. Others,  that  act  upon  it,  do  not  think  it  needful  *.o  express 
by  vote  their  conviction,  that  the  man,  among  them,  who  does  this, 
cannot  give  credible  evidence  that  he  is  a  good  man,  any  more  than 
they  do,  that  the  man  who  keeps  a  gambling  house,  a  house  of  ill  fame, 
or  who  engages  in  the  slave-trade,  cannot,  while  he  continues  this, 
give  credible  evidence  that  he  is  a  good  man.  The  thing  speaks  for 
ilsdf.  It  is,  in  their  view,  an  immorality  ;  and  they  treat  it  as  an 
immorality. 

During  the  past  year,  a  number  of  publications,  on  this  subject, 
have  been  issued  from  the  press. 

A.  benevolent  individual  offered  a  premium  of  $'250  for  the  best 
essay  on  the  following  questions,  viz. : — "  Is  it  consistent  with  a 
profession  of  the  Christian  religion,  for  persons  to  use,  as  an  article 
of  luxury  or  of  living,  distilled  liquors,  or  to  traffic  in  them'?  And, 
is  it  consistent  with  duty  for  the  churches  of  Christ  to  admit  those 
as  members  who  continue  to  do  this  ?" 

More  than  40  manuscripts  were  presented ;  and  some  from  most 
of  the  Northern  and  Middle  States.  Only  one  attempted  to  sup- 
port the  affirmative  of  the  above  questions.  The  one  to  which  the 
premium  was  awarded,  wras  written  by  Rev.  Moses  Stuart,  Associate 
Professor  of  Sacred  Literature,  in  the  Theological  Seminary, 
Andover,  Massachusetts.  It  has  since  been  published.  Two 
others  on  the  same  subject,  one  by  Rev.  Austin  Dickinson  of  New 
York,  and  one  by  Rev.  Joseph  Harvey  of  Connecticut,  have  also 
been  published ;  and  they  are  all  now  receiving  an  extensive  circu- 
lation. Others,  it  is  expected,  will  soon  be  published  ;  and  it  is  hoped 
that  the  attention  of  all  philanthropists  and  Christians  will  be  di- 
rected to  this  subject,  till  no  professed  friend  of  God  or  man  shall 
be  found  engaged  in  this  nefarious  traffic  in  our  land.*  Then  will 
the  light  of  the  moon  be  as  the  light  of  the  sun,  the  light  of  the  sun 
be  seven  fold,  and  the  light  of  truth  and  love,  beaming  with  celes- 
tial radiance,  will  eclipse  them. 

Nor  will  its  benign  and  heavenly  influence  be  confined  to  this 
country ;  but  will  shine  with  equal,  and  perhaps  with  greater  bright- 
ness, on  the  inhabitants  of  other  lands.  In  Ireland,  and  Scotland, 
and  England,  the  cause  is  extending  with  a  rapidity  which  aston- 
ishes even  its  most  active  promoters.  The  British  government  has 
ceased  to  furnish  ardent  spirit,  or  wine,  to  their  armies  throughout 
the  provinces ;  and  allow  a  penny  a  day,  as  a  substitute,  to  every 
soldier.  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  in  a  debate  on  petitions 
from  the  friends  of  temperance,  declared,  in  Parliament,  that, 
so  far  from  government  desiring  to  promote  the  consumption  of 

*Appexdix,  O. 


52  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

spirits,  they  would  rather  see  the  people  refrain  from  them  alto- 
gether.* 

From  Switzerland  application  has  been  made  for  our  Constitu- 
tion, Reports,  and  all  the  temperance  publications  of  this  country. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Royal  Patriotic  Society  of  Sweden,  in  a 
letter  dated  Stockholm,  28th  of  May,  1830,  says,  "By  foreign 
journals  received  here,  it  appears  that  Temperance  Societies  have 
been  formed  in  the  Free  States  of  North  America.  The  results  ob- 
tained by  those  Societies,  if  the  accounts  we  have  received  be  not 
exaggerated,  are  so  surprising,  that  they  have  attracted  the  particu- 
lar notice  of  the  Royal  Swedish  Patriotic  Society,  and  created  a 
desire  of  becoming  acquainted  with  their  organization  and  mode 
of  proceeding.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that,  in  my  capacity  of  Secre- 
tary of  the  said  Society,  I  have  to  solicit  your  procuring  and  com- 
municating all  the  information  in  your  power  to  obtain  respect- 
ing the  North  American  Temperance  Societies,  which,  it  is  said, 
publish  a  Journal,  giving  an  account  of  their  proceedings  and  pro- 
gressive attainments.  Should  this  publication  contain  information 
applicable  to  other  nations,  as  well  as  America,  sufficiently  inter- 
esting to  be  subscribed  for  by  the  Royal  Society,  you  will  oblige 
us  by  sending  what  has  been  published,  the  expense  of  which 
shall  be  satisfied." 

The  Journal  of  Humanity,  and  various  other  temperance  publica- 
tions, have  been  sent  to  the  Royal  Patriotic  Society ;  and  from  later 
communications,  it  appears  that  Temperance  Societies  have  already 
been  formed  at  Stockholm,  Gottenburgh  and  Tonkioping,  are  ex- 
erting a  powerful  influence,  and,  it  is  expected,  will  extend  through 
the  country. 

They  have  also  been  formed  in  great  numbers,  and  are  now 
exerting  a  mighty  influence,  in  the  islands  of  the  South  Sea.  Nu- 
merous villages,  whose  inhabitants,  a  few  years  ago,  were,  as  a 
body,  for  days,  intoxicated  together,  have  now  not  an  individual 
in  them  who  uses  any  thing  that  intoxicates. 

The  traffic  is  denounced  as  immoral,  and  prohibited  under  severe 
penalties,  by  the  government.  For  selling  a  single  bottle  of 
rum,  a  man  was  fined  $200,  because  the  sale  of  this  poison  tended 
so  strongly  to  ruin  his  fellow  men.  And  may  we  not  hope,  that 
the  time  is  approaching,  when  the  traffic  will  be  viewed  and  treated 
as  a  notorious  and  destructive  immorality,  over  the  whole  earth. 
In  the  island  of  Oahu  is  a  Society  of  more  than  1000  mem- 
bers, all  of  whom  engage  not  to  use  or  to  traffic  in  ardent  spirits, 
or  in  any  way  to  furnish  them  for  the  use  of  others. 

Measures  have  also  been  taken  to  form  Temperance  Societies  in 
Africa ;  and  there  is  reason  to  expect,  that  their  influence  will  soon 
be  felt  in  every  country  on  the  globe ;  that,  wherever  the  gospel 

•Appendix,  P. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  53 

goes,  and  exerts  its  legitimate  influence  over  the  mind  of  man,  ab- 
stinence from  ail  which  intoxicates,  and  thus  wars  against  the  soul, 
will  be  its  sure  and  invariable  attendant.  The  Hottentot  and 
the  Hindoo,  the  Greenlander  and  Tahitian,  will  unite  with  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Emerald  Isle,  the  Caledonian,  European,  Asiatic, 
African  and  American  of  every  name,  in  ceasing  to  do  evil.  Then, 
under  the  means  of  God's  appointment,  will  they  learn  to  do  well. 
The  word  of  the  Lord,  unobstructed,  will  run  very  swiftly;  and, 
pouring  with  double  energy  its  mighty,  all-pervading  influence  upon 
the  whole  mass  of  minds,  will  be  like  the  rain  and  the  snow  that 
come  down  from  heaven,  and  water  the  earth,  and  cause  it  to  bring 
forth  and  bud.  The  frost  and  the  snows  of  six  thousand  winters 
will  be  forever  dissolved ;  and  the  spring-time  of  millennial  beauty, 
and  the  autumnal  fruit  of  millennial  glory,  open  upon  the  world. 

But,  in  order  to  this,  a  number  of  things  must  be  avoided ;  and  a 
number  of  other  things  must  be  done. 

1.  Men  must  not  adopt  the  opinion,  that  the  Temperance  Refor- 
mation is  already  accomplished  ;  or  that  it  is  so  far  accomplished,  that 
it  will  go  forward  of  itself ;  or  that  any  one  may  now  be  excused 
from  great  and  persevering  efforts.  There  is  a  tendency  with  many 
to  conclude  that  the  work  is  already  accomplished  ;  or  that  so  much 
is  done,  that  it  will  now  go  forward  to  its  completion  of  itself; 
and  that  its  friends  may  be  excused  from  further  effort.  But  as 
well  might  a  man  who  had  undertaken  to  sail  around  the  globe,  and 
had  gone  a  few  miles  with  a  prosperous  gale,  conclude  that  the 
voyage  was  accomplished,  or  that  so  much  was  accomplished,  and 
he  was  now  going  so  finely,  that  wind,  and  tide,  and  gravitation 
would  of  themselves  accomplish  the  work,  and  that  he  might  be 
excused  from  further  effort,  as  for  a  man  to  adopt  this  opinion  with 
regard  to  the  Temperance  Reformation.  It  is  the  very  opinion 
which  the  drunkard,  who  means  to  continue  such,  propagates  ;  and, 
so  far  as  it  prevails,  it  is  fata!.  The  work  is  not  accomplished  till 
there  is  not  a  drunkard  in  our  land ;  and  not  a  sober  man,  much 
less  a  Christian,  to  make  his  children  drunkards. 

The  work  accomplished  !  In  the  city  of  Boston,  with  only 
about  60,000  inhabitants,  there  were,  the  last  year,  690  persons 
licensed  by  the  government  to  sell  this  poison.*  If  each  has 
only  10  customers  a  day,  it  would  make  6,900  who  daily  use 
it.  And  if  each  spends  only  10  cents  a  day,  it  would  amount  to 
$251,950  a  year. 

In  the  four  cities  of  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Bal- 
timore, containing  only  about  500,000  inhabitants,  more  than 
6,000  persons  are  licensed  by  the  government  to  sell  ardent  spirit, 
and  thus  to  be  accessory  to  the  ruin  of  their  fellow  men.   If  they  have 

*  More  than  1  to  every  22  men,  over  21  years  of  age,  make  it  their  business 
to  induce  men  to  buy. 

5* 


§4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

tiaily  10  customers  each,  and  they  each  spend  foi  this  poison  only  10 
cents,  it  would  he  more  than  $6,000  a  day,  or  more  than  $2,196,000 
a  year.  More  than  6,000  men — more  than  one  in  20  of  all  the  men 
over  21  years  of  age — are,  for  a  little  money,  licensed  to  carry  on  a 
trade  which  is  proved,  by  a  vast  accumulation  of  facts,  to  be  among 
the  greatest  curses  which  have  come  upon  the  human  family  ;  which 
lias  caused  a  loss  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  more  than 
$90,000,000  a  year;  and  brought  down  more  than  30,000  persons 
to  an  untimely  grave.  And  this  is  continued,  after  it  is  proved,  by 
the  experience  of  more  than  a  million  of  persons,  that  men1;  in  all 
kinds  of  business,  are  better  without  the  use  of  it ;  and  those  who 
profess  to  be  good  men  are  furnishing  it  to  all  who  will  purchase, 
and  thus  assisting  to  perpetuate  this  mighty  ruin  down  to  the  end 
of  the  world. 

No ;  the  work  is  not  done  !  It  is  only  begun.  Enough  has 
been  done  to  show  that  it  is  practicable  ;  that  it  o*ght  to  be  done  ; 
and,  if  temperate  men  and  women  do  their  duty,  it  will  be  done. 

But,  in  the  language  of  a  distinguished  civilian,  "  Every  thing, 
now,  with  regard  to  temperance,  turns  on  perseverance."  Its  friends 
have  adopted  the  right  plan, — kind  moral  influence,  the  influence 
of  facts,  brought  home  to  the  bosoms  of  the  people,  and  enforced 
by  their  responsibilities  to  God  ;  and  the  retribution,  not  of  time 
only,  but  eternity.  "  1  have  just  returned,"  said  the  man  referred 
to,  "  from  a  long  journey  ;  and  I  did  not  suppose,  two  years  ago,  that 
it  was  in  the  power  of  all  the  world  to  produce  the  change,  with 
regard  to  the  use  of  strong  drink,  which  I  have  witnessed  on  this 
journey.  And  I  am  now  perfectly  satisfied,  that,  if  we  hold  on,  the 
cause  will  be  triumphant.  But  every  thing  turns  on  perse- 
verance." 

So  say  the  facts.  Wherever  sober  men  do  their  duty,  the  cause 
advances.  With  opposition,  or  without  it,  the  cause  advances. 
The  efforts  of  friends  and  foes  seem  to  help  it  onward.  But  where 
sober  men  adopt  the  opinion,  that  they  have  done  enough,  that  the 
work  is  accomplished  ;  or  that  so  much  is  done,  that  it  will  now  go 
forward  of  itself;  or  that  others  will  carry  it  on  without  them, — the 
cause  recedes,  death  advances,  and  extending  destruction  follows. 

2.  Men  must  not  be  afraid  or  ashamed  to  adopt  the  plan  of  entire 
abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  from  all  instrumentality 
in  the  furnishing  of  it  for  the  use  of  others.  Nor  must  diey  refuse 
to  let  this  be  known,  and  to  unite  with  others,  in  making  vigorous 
and  persevering  efforts,  till  all  are  persuaded  to  do  the  same. 

And  one  of  the  most  unexceptionable  and  efficacious  modes  of 
doing  this,  is,  by  united  and  visible  example,  embodied  and  ex- 
hibited in  the  formation,  and  active,  persevering  operation  of  Tem- 
perance Societies ;  composed  of  all,  both  male  and  female,  who  do 
not  use  ardent  spirit. 


FOURTH    REPORT. 183).  55 

Some  are  ready  to  say,  "Why  should  we  unite  with  others?  If 
we  only  abstain,  that  is  enough."  And  others  contend,  that  they 
can  do  more  good  by  not  uniting  in  any  Society ;  and  ask,  "  What 
is  the  benefit  of  Temperance  Societies  ?" 

When  our  fathers  and  mothers  could  not  drink  tea  without  hs 
coming  with  a  little  paltry  tax  upon  it,  which  would  endanger  the 
welfare  of  their  children,  the  men  of  '70,  and  the  women  too,  said, 
"  We  will  not  use  it."  Total  abstinence  was  the  doctrine  which 
went,  like  an  electric  shock,  through  the  land.  And  not  only  so, 
but  they  said  that  they  would  agree  together  not  to  buy,  sell,  or  use 
the  detestable  thing.*  They  did.  The  effect  was  felt  across  the 
Atlantic.  It  is  felt  throughout  this  land,  down  to  this  day.  It  will 
be  felt  in  every  land,  to  the  end  of  time.  What  was  the  benefit  of 
that  visible  organized  union  ?  Union  is  strength.  And  organized, 
visible  union,  is  consolidated,  permanent,  ever-growing  strength. 

When  armies  of  oppression  were  poured  in  to  desolate  our  coun- 
try, had  our  fathers  said,  "  We  will  abstain  from  it ;  we  will  not 
fight  in  their  armies;  nor  will  we  have  any  visible,  organized  union 
among  ourselves  to  oppose  them,  but  will  act  single-handed,  each 
one  in  his  own  way ;"  they  had  taken  the  very  course  which  their 
enemies  had  wished.  No  drunkards  advocate  the  formation  and 
active  operation  of  Temperance  Societies.  And  from  this  fact, 
the  friends  of  temperance  ought  to  learn  much.  Twenty  men, 
united  by  visible  agreement,  will  ordinarily  exert  greater  moral  in- 
fluence on  the  community,  than  a  hundred  men,  with  no  visible 
organized  union.  And  of  all  the  means  which  God  has  blessed,  to 
carry  forward  this  great  work,  Temperance  Societies  are  among  the 
most  efficacious. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  cannot  look  upon  the  efforts  of  the 
chancellor  of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  his  associates,  for  the 
formation  of  a  Temperance  Society,  in  each  school  district  of 
the  greatest  state  in  the  Union,  but  with  peculiar  delight.  Tem- 
perance Societies  in  9063  schools,  embracing  500,000  children, 
will  exert  an  influence  that  will  be  felt  round  the  globe,  and  will 
tell  on  the  destinies  of  men  to  endless  ages.  Some,  who  are 
afraid,  and  have  reason  to  be,  of  a  sound  moral  influence,  may 
apprehend  danger  from  such  combinations ;  but  the  Committee 
can  see  in  them  only  unmingled  benefits.  And,  should  they  be- 
come universal  throughout  our  country,  our  country  will  be  saved. 
Three  millions  of  children,  abstaining  from  that  fleshly  lust,  which 
wars  against  the  body  and  the  soul,  and  against  all  the  social, 
civil,  and  religious  interests  of  men  ;  and  educated,  as  they  may  be, 
and  brought,  through  grace,  under  the  influence  of  that  "  law 
which  is  perfect,  converting  the  soul,  sure,  making  wise  the  simple, 
and  which  is  true  and  righteous  altogether," — can  never  be  enslav- 

*  Appendix,  Q. 


56  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

ed :  nor  can  they  submit  to  the  degradation  of  making  efforts  for 
the  enslaving  of  others.  That  spirit  which  cries,  "  Glory  to  God 
in  the  highest,"  breathes,  "good  will  to  men."  Its  motto  is,  "As 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  also  to  them."  It 
will  never  enslave,  nor  be  enslaved.  The  Son  of  God  makes  it 
free,  and  it  must  be  free  indeed. 

Some  refuse  to  join  a  Temperance  Society,  because,  they  say, 
"We  are  temperate  already."  But  should  a  patriot  refuse  to  join 
with  others  for  the  defence  of  his  country,  and  give  as  a  reason,  "  1 
am  a  patriot  already,"  he  would  cause  his  patriotism  to  be  some- 
thing more  than  suspected. 

Should  a  man  in  apparent  health  refuse  to  unfte  with  others  to 
drain  off  a  stagnant  pond,  that  was  filling  a  city  with  pestilence,  and 
give  as  a  reason,  that  he  was  in  health  already,  he  would  give  sad 
evidence  that  his  heart,  if  not  his  head,  was  disordered.  Were  a 
conflagration  raging  in  a  city,  and  should  a  man  refuse  to  unite  with 
others  to  extinguish  the  flames  because  his  own  house  was  not  on 
fire,  he  would  be  likely  to  excite  little  sympathy  should  his  house 
be  burnt. 

Temperance  Societies  are  designed  for  temperate  men.  Their 
object  is,  to  keep  all  sober,  who  are  so  now ;  till  alt  drunkards,  who 
will  not  reform,  are  dead,  and  the  world  is  free.  No  persons  will 
do  good,  in  Temperance  Societies,  except  those  who  do  not  use 
ardent  spirit,  and  who  do  not  furnish  it  for  the  use  of  others.  The 
fact,  therefore,  that  a  man  entirely  abstains  himself,  and  is  in  no 
way  accessory  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  by  others,  instead  of  being 
a  reason  why  he  should  not,  is  the  very  reason  why  he  should  join 
a  Temperance  Society.  No  other  men  will  show  by  practice  the 
utility  of  this  course,  which  must  be  adopted  by  all  men,  or  intem- 
perance will  never  be  done  away.  On  the  other  hand,  let  men 
cease  to  use  that  which  intoxicates,  and  the  evil  will  vanish.  And 
the  way  to  accomplish  this,  is,  to  show,  by  visible,  united  example, 
the  practicability  and  utility  of  this  course.  And  to  do  this  is  the 
object  of  Temperance  Societies.  And  no  man  can  join  then),  and 
act  perseveringly,  in  accordance  with  their  spirit,  without  doing  ex- 
tensive good  to  his  fellow  men.  And  let  all  sober  men  do  this,  and 
Providence  will  do  the  rest.  Intemperance  and  all  its  abominations 
will  be  speedily  done  away.  If  new  drunkards  are  not  made,  in 
one  generation,  and  that  a  short  one,  you  may  seek  them,  but  you 
cannot  find  them  ;  they  will  have  gone  to  their  own  piace,  and  the 
earth  be  eased  of  its  burden. 

3.  Men  who  understand  the  nature  and  effects  of  ardent  spirit, 
and  who,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  subject,  enter  upon,  or  continue 
in,  the  business  of  furnishing  this  poison,  as  an  article  of  luxury 
or  diet,  to  all  who  will  purchase,  and  thus  assist  in  perpetuating 
drunkenness,  and  all  its  abominations,  must  be  viewed   and  treated 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831.  57 

as  sharers  in  the  drunkard's  guilt,  and  as  ripening  to  be  partakers 
of  the  drunkard's  plagues.  For,  in  the  language  of  the  Committee 
of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  who,  by  their  labors 
in  this  cause,  are  rendering  themselves  the  benefactors  of  the  world, 
"  Disguise  that  business  as  they  will,  it  is  still,  in  its  true  character, 
the  business  of  destroying  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men.  The  vend- 
er and  the  maker  of  spirits,  in  the  whole  range  of  them,  from  the 
pettiest  grocer  to  the  most  extensive  distiller,  are  fairly  chargeable 
not  only  with  supplying  the  appetite  for  spirits,  but  with  creating 
that  unnatural  appetite ;  not  only  with  supplying  the  drunkard  with 
the  fuel  of  his  vices,  but  with  making  the  drunkard. 

"  In  reference  to  the  taxes  with  which  the  making  and  vending 
of  spirits  loads  the  community,  how  unfair  towards  others  is  the 
occupation  of  the  maker  and  vender  of  them  !  A  town,  for 
instance,  contains  one  hundred  drunkards.  The  profit  of  making 
these  drunkards,  is  enjoyed  by  some  half  a  dozen  persons.  But 
the  burden  of  these  drunkards  rests  upon  the  whole  town.  The 
Executive  Committee  do  not  suggest  that  there  should  be  such  a 
law ;  but  they  ask  whether  there  would  be  one  law  in  the  whole 
statute-book,  more  righteous  than  that  which  should  require  those 
who  have  the  profit  of  making  our  drunkards  to  be  burdened  with 
the  support  of  them." 

Suppose  that  half  the  persons  in  a  town  use  no  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  do  not  furnish  them  for  the  use  of  others,  and  are  not 
accessory,  by  example  or  business,  to  the  making  of  drunkards  ; 
how  exceedingly  unjust  and  oppressive,  that  they  should  be  taxed 
for  the  support  of  them  ! — that  men  should  be  licensed  to  tempt 
their  children  to  become  drunkards  ;  to  excite  them  to  the  com- 
mission of  crimes  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  gain,  without  benefit,  and 
greatly  to  the  injury  of  the  community,  increase  the  danger  of 
their  temporal  and  eternal  ruin  !  What  can  be  more  just,  than  that 
the  men  who  cause  such  evils,  should  themselves  bear  the  burden 
of  them  ? 

And  should  the  men  who  sell  ardent  spirit  have  to  bear  not  only 
the  burden  of  supporting  all  the  paupers  which  they  make,  but  to 
bear  the  loss  of  property,  the  loss  of  character,  the  loss  of  reputation 
and  domestic  comfort  which  they  occasion  ;  and  to  bear  also  the 
loss  of  health,  the  loss  of  reason,  the  loss  of  life,  and  the  loss  of 
soul,  to  which  they  are  knowingly  and  voluntarily  instrumental ; 
and  all  this,  in  righteousness,  as  a  punishment  for  being  accessory 
to  the  bringing  of  these  evils  upon  others ; — would  they  not  find  their 
burden  to  be  inexpressibly  great  ?  and  be  ready,  like  another, 
when  punished  justly,  to  cry,  "  My  punishment  is  greater  than  I 
can  bear  ?"  And  if  the  killing  of  one  man  justly  brought  upon  its 
author  such  fearful  and  overwhelming  retribution,  who  can  bear 
the  indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  anguish,  of  continuing  to 


58  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

be  knowingly  and  voluntarily  accessory  to  the  killing  of  those  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  who  are  brought  to  an  untimely  grave  by 
ardent  spirit  ? 

And  as  the  authors  and  accessories  of  this  mighty  ruin  live 
under  a  righteous  moral  government,  by  which  every  thing  that  is 
now  covered  will  ere  long  be  revealed,  and  which  will  render  to 
every  man  according  to  his  work, — does  not  humanity,  patriotism, 
conscience,  religion,  and  every  thing  dear  for  this  life,  and  the  life 
to  come,  urge  them,  without  delay,  whatever  it  may  cost  them,  to 
abandon  this  work  of  death  forever? 

"  But,"  says  one,  "  if  I  do  not  sell  ardent  spirit,  I  must  change 
my  business."  If  so,  the  Committee  would  say,  Change  your  bu- 
siness ;  or  it  may  have  been  better  for  you  never  to  have  been  born. 
You  are  required  to  change  it,  by  your  own  good  and  that  of 
others ;  by  that  law  which  requires  you  supremely  to  regard  God, 
and  to  do  good,  and  good  only,  as  you  have  opportunity,  to  all  men. 

"But,"  says  another,  "  if  I  should  do  this,  I  could  not  support 
my  family."  But  it  would  be  a  libel  on  the  character  of  God  to 
suppose,  that  men  cannot  live  under  his  government,  and  support 
their  families,  without  continuing  to  be,  knowingly  and  voluntarily, 
accessory  to  the  ruin  of  their  fellow  men.  Nine  tenths  of  all  the 
families  in  this  country  are  supported  by  other  kinds  of  business  ; 
and  it  is  not  true  that  the  other  tenth  cannot  be  supported. 

"  But,  if  I  do  not  sell,  other  people  will."  It  may  be  true,  that 
other  people  will  traffic  in  human  flesh  and  blood,  if  you  do  not^ 
that  they  will  steal,  rob,  and  commit  murder,  if  you  do  not.  But 
that  will  not  lessen  the  intensity  and  awfulness  of  your  retribution, 
if  you  do.  No  more  will  it,  if  you  continue  knowingly,  by  the  sale 
of  ardent  spirit,  to  ruin  your  fellow  men.  You  may  be  prevented,, 
by  this,  from  seeing  its  criminality,  but  you  will  not  be  prevented 
from  feeling  its  retribution.  This  you  cannot  escape,  but  by  aban- 
doning the  business,  and  using  all  suitable  means  to  lead  all  others 
to  do  the  same. 

Do  this,  and  you  escape  the  guilt  of  its  continuance,  and  others 
escape  its  woes.  You  dry  up,  so  far  as  you  are  concerned,  the 
grand  source  of  pauperism,  crime,  and  wretchedness  ;  diminish 
exceedingly  the  sickness,  insanity  and  death  ;  remove  one  of  the 
greatest  dangers,  to  which  our  social,  civil  and  religious  institutions 
are  exposed ;  and  one  of  the  mightiest  obstructions  to  the  efficacy 
of  the  gospel,  and  all  the  means  of  grace  ;  you  remove  that  which, 
with  thousands  and  millions,  now  hinders  the  influence  of  that 
overflowing  kindness  which  God  has  opened  upon  a  guilty  world 
through  a  Savior  ;  and  which,  if  not  obstructed  and  resisted,  would 
illuminate  and  purify,  cheer,  bless  and  save,  from  the  rising  of  the 
sun  to  the  going  down  of  the  same,  with  a  holy  and  an  everlasting 
salvation. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     (p.  1.) 

When  treated  of  by  medical  writers,  and  arranged  according  to 
its  effects  on  the  human  body,  distilled  spirit  is  placed  in  the  same 
class,  and  considered  under  the  same  relations,  with  henbane, 
deadly  night-shade,  tobacco,  hemlock,  opium,  and  various  Other 
poisons  ;  and,  in  another  point  of  view,  as  exerting  an  influence  on 
the  human  system  similar  to  the  continued  action  of  the  contagion 
of  the  plague,  typhus  fever,  and  small-pox.  Discovered  at  first  by 
a  Mohammedan  alchemist,  while  torturing  the  wholesome  gifts  6f  a 
beneficent  Creator,  in  search  of  a  universal  solvent,  by  which  to 
extract  gold  from  its  hidden  recesses,  and  minutest  state  of  division, 
distilled  spirit  continued,  for  centuries,  to  be  employed  in  their  myste- 
rious, and,  in  general,  vain  inventions  ;  and  it  was  not  till  more  than 
fifty  centuries  of  the  world's  history  had  passed  away,  that  the  un- 
happy ingenuity  of  a  Spanish  physician,  first  suggested  its  use  as  a 
remedy  in  disease ;  nor  till  several  centuries  afterwards,  that  the 
popular  taste  established  it  as  a  remedy  in  health.  How  literally 
it  has  since,  in  innumerable  instances,  in  this  latter  character,  realized 
the  Italian  epitaph,  "  I  was  well ;  1  would  be  better ;  and  here  I 
am!"     (Glas.  Temp.  Record,  vol.  i.  p.  18.) 

Till  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  ale  had  been  the  common 
beverage  of  the  laboring  classes  in  England.  But  no  sooner  was 
ardent  spirit  ingrafted  in  their  habits  by  an  act  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  distillation,  than  its  employment  became  so  excessive  as  to 
call  for  legislative  interference;  and  it  was  not  till  1751,  that  the 
measures  of  the  government  were  successful,  in  bringing  back  the 
consumption  of  ale  to  its  original  quantity ;  before  which,  according 
to  Smollet,  "  such  a  shameful  degree  of  profligacy  prevailed,  that 
the  retailers  of  this  poisonous  compound  (gin)  set  up  painted 
boards  in  public,  inviting  the  people  to  be  drunk  for  the  small 
expense  of  a  penny  ;  assuring  them  that  they  might  be  dead  drunk 
for  twopence,  and  have  straw  to  lie  on  till  they  recovered,  fornoth- 
ing."  From  this  time  till  the  removal  of  the  restrictions  on  the 
sale  of  gin,  in  1827,  beer  continued  to  be  again  the  favorite  drink 
of  the  English  workmen ;  but  immediately  on  the  nation  being  again,- 


64  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

the  second  time,  exposed,  with  all  its  ale-quaffing  habits,  to  the  light, 
diffusive,,  and  agreeable  stimulus  of  distilled  spirit,  it  fell ; — the 
thirst  for  the  new  liquor  spreading  with  the  rapidity  of  lightning, 
and  its  consumption  increasing,  in  two  years,  twelve  millions  ol 
gallons.     (Do.  vol.  ii.  p.  4.) 

Distilled  spirits  began  to  be  prepared  on  the  continent  of  Europe, 
on  a  large  scale,  in  the  commencement,  and  was  first  introduced 
into  this  country  in  the  latter  end,  of  the  16th  century;  and  in  the 
comparatively  short  period  which  has  elapsed  since,  its  consump- 
tion has  extended  in  the  United  Kingdom,  to  about  40,000,000 
gallons  per  annum.  The  earliest  notice  of  its  application  to  the 
purposes  of  ordinary  life,  which  we  have  seen,  is  its  exhibition,  as 
a  supposed  preservative  from  cold  and  damp,  to  the  laborers  in  the 
Hungarian  mines ;  and  Cambden  mentions  it  as  having  been  adopt- 
ed in  1581,  for  the  first  time,  as  a  cordial,  by  the  English  soldiers 
engaged  in  assisting  the  Dutch  in  the  Netherlands.  And  from 
this  little  cloud,  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand,  has  been  evolved 
the  mighty  mass,  which  is  now  suspended  over  our  country,  and 
pouring  its  fiery  streams  into  all  the  currents  of  public  and  domestic 
intercourse.     (Do.  p.  50.) 

It  was  not  till  the  end  of  the  13th  century,  that  spirits  of  wine, 
impregnated  with  certain  herbs,  was  introduced  into  use  as  a  reme- 
dy in  the  treatment  of  disease.  The  first  ardent  spirit  known  in 
Europe  was  made  from  grapes,  and  sold  as  a  medicine  both  in 
Italy  and  Spain.  The  Genoese  afterwards  prepared  it  from  grain T 
and  sold  it  in  small  bottles,  at  a  very  high  price,  under  the  name  of 
aqua  vita,  or  the  ivater  of  life.  Down  to  the  16th  century,  it 
continued  to  be  kept  exclusively  by  the  apothecary,  and  its  use 
restricted  to  medicine.     (Jour,  of  Hum.  vol.  ii.  p.  145.) 

It  appears,  however,  that  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  a 
liquor  termed  aqua  vita,  supposed  to  have  been  brandy,  was 
known  in  Ireland ;  it  being  decreed  by  that  monarch,  that  there  be 
but  one  maker  of  aqua  viice  in  any  borough  or  town.  In  1556, 
an  act  of  parliament  was  passed  at  Drogheda,  against  distilling  it  at 
all;  it  being  described,  in  the  language  of  the  act,  as  "a  drink 
nothing  profitable  to  be  daily  drunken  and  used."     (Do.  p.  149.) 


B.     (p.  2.) 

Of  286  persons  in  the  Lunatic  Asylum  in  Dublin,  1 15  were 
known  to  have  been  deprived  of  reason  by  intemperance,  and 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  this  was  the  case  also  with  many 
others* 


FOURTH    REPORT.— 1831. — 'APPENDIX.  65 

In  four  years,  from  1826  to  1829  inclusive,  495  patients  were 
admitted  into  the  Liverpool  Lunatic  Asylum ;  and  257  of  them 
were  known  to  have  brought  on  their  derangement  by  drinking : 
and  this  was  supposed  to  have  been  the  case  with  many  others. 

A  distinguished  medical  gentleman,  who  has  had  extensive  expe- 
rience with  regard  to  this  malady,  states,  that  more  than  one  half, 
and  probably  three  fourths,  of  all  the  cases  of  insanity  winch  have 
come  under  his  notice,  were  occasioned  by  excessive  drinking.  In 
the  Pauper  Lunatic  Asylum  in  Middlesex,  the  number  of  patients 
increased  in  one  year  from  825  to  between  1100  and  1200;  and 
principally  by  an  increase  of  the  use  of  gin.     [Jour.  Hum.  p.  105.) 

"  The  comparative  sobriety  of  the  French  nation  is  familiar  to 
every  one  ;  and  Dr.  Esquirol  states  the  proportion  of  the  insane 
from  inebriety,  at  one  of  the  asylums  in  Paris,  to  amount  only  to 
about  one  thirteenth  of  the  whole ;  while  Dr.  Crawford,  of  the 
Richmond  Lunatic  Asylum  of  Dublin,  reports  the  proportion  of  the 
same  description  of  patients  throughout  Ireland  to  be  as  high  as 
one  half  of  the  total  insane.  The  prodigious  increase  of  insanity  in 
Great  Britain — amounting,  according  to  Sir  Arthur  Haliday,  to 
two  thirds  within  the  last  twenty  years — may,  with  great  justice,  be 
ascribed,  in  some  degree,  to  the  more  general  use  of  spirituous 
liquors  within  that  period  ;  and  this  view  receives  much  confirma- 
tion from  the  melancholy  fact,  that  in  Scotland  the  proportion  is 
higher  than  in  either  England  or  Wales.  In  England,  it  is  said  to 
amount  only  to  about  one  insane  person  in  every  1000  of  the  popu- 
lation ;  in  Wales,  to  one  in  every  800 ;  and  in  Scotland,  to  one  in 
every  574."     {Tcrrvp.  Rec.  No.  2.  vol.  i.  p.  20.) 

And  why  should  this  not  be  the  case  ?  "  What,"  says  Dr.  Kirk, 
"  is  the  nature  of  ardent  spirits  ?  All  of  them  contain,  as  their  basis, 
alcohol — a  narcotic  stimulant,  possessing  properties  of  the  kind 
that  opium  does  ;  which  you  know  to  be  a  poison, — with  this  addi- 
tion, that  it  is  more  immediately  irritating  to  the  tissues  of  the  body 
to  which  it  is  applied,  than  opium  is.  It  mixes  with  the  food  and 
juices  of  the  stomach,  and  in  the  act,  time  after  time,  injures  the 
coats  of  that  organ.  It  mixes  with  the  chyle,  which  is  to  form  part 
of  the  mass  of  blood,  and  is  carried  with  it  into  the  circulation — 
courses  through  every  vessel,  and  is  exhaled  at  every  pore.  You 
feel  it  pollute  the  respiration  of  the  drunkard,  when  he  blows  his 
nauseous  breath  upon  you.  The  liquor  has  been  absorbed  into 
the  blood,  is  circulating  through  the  lungs  at  every  respiration,  is 
exhaled  from  the  numerous  vessels  containing  the  circulating  blood 
of  these  organs.  The  vessels  of  the  brain,  as  well  as  other  parts, 
are  loaded  with  it.  I  dissected  a  man  who  died  in  a  state  of  in- 
toxication after  a  debauch.  The  operation  was  performed  a  few 
hours  after  death.  In  two  of  the  cavities  of  the  brain,  the  lateral 
ventricles,  was  found  the  usual  quantity  of  limpid  fluid.  When 
6 


66  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

we  smelt  it,  the  odor  of  whiskey  was  distinctly  visible ;  and  when 
we  applied  the  candle  to  a  portion  in  a  spoon,  it  actually  burned 
blue — the  lambent  blue  flame,  characteristic  of  the  poison,  playing 
on  the  surface  of  the  spoon  for  some  seconds."  (Dr.  Kirk's 
Address  to  the  Leven  Temperance  Society,  p.  6.) 

No  wonder  it  destroys  reason.  It  is  a  poison  in  the  brain.  And 
no  wonder  that  those  who  take  even  a  little  of  it,  have  less  reason 
than  those  who  take  none ;  and  that  those  who  take  it  daily  are  so 
much  more  exposed,  and  their  children  also,  to  insanity,  than  those 
who  entirely  abstain  from  it. 

"  The  love  of  strong  drink,"  says  Dr.  Peirson,  "  and  the  proneness 
to  mania,  are,  with  respect  to  each  other,  interchangeable  causes." 


C  .     (P.  9.) 

Should  each  individual  in  our  country  adopt  the  same  course, 
the  following  are  some  of  the  advantages  which  would  result  from 
it: — 

1.  They  would  enjoy  better  health,  be  able  to  perform  more 
labor,  and  would  live  to  a  greater  age. 

2.  The  evils  of  intemperance  would  soon  be  done  away  ;  for  all 
who  are  now  intemperate,  and  continue  so,  will  soon  be  dead,  and 
no  others  will  be  found  to  succeed  them. 

3.  There  will  be  a  saving,  every  year,  of  more  than  thirty  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  which  are  now  expended  for  ardent  spirits.  There 
will  be  a  saving  of  more  than  two  thirds  of  all  the  expense  of  sup- 
porting the  poor,  which,  in  Massachusetts  alone,  would  amount  to 
more  than  $600,000  annually.  And  there  would  be  a  saving  of 
all  that  idleness  and  dissipation  which  intemperance  occasions,  and 
of  the  expense  of  more  than  two  thirds  of  all  the  criminal  prosecu- 
tions in  the  land.  In  one  of  our  large  cities,  in  which  there  were 
1000  prosecutions  for  crimes,  more  than  800  of  them  were  found 
to  have  sprung  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

4.  There  would  be  a  saving  of  a  vast  portion  of  sickness ;  and 
of  the  lives,  probably,  of  30,000  persons  every  year. 

Let  these  four  considerations  be  added  together,  and  traced  in 
their  various  bearings  and  consequences  upon  the  temporal  and 
eternal  welfare  of  men ;  and  then  let  each  individual  say,  whether, 
in  view  of  all  the  evils  connected  with  the  practice  of  taking  ardent 
spirit,  he  can,  in  the  sight  of  God,  be  justified  in  continuing  the 
practice.  That  it  is  not  necessary,  has  been  fully  proved.  No 
one  thinks  it  to  be  necessary,  except  those  who  use  it.  And  they 
would  not  think  so,  if  they  were  not  in  the  habit  of  using  it.  Let 
any  man  leave  off  entirely  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  for  only  one 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  67 

year,  and  he  will  find  by  his  own  experience  that  it  is  not  necessary 
or  useful.  The  fathers  of  iNew  England  did  not  use  it,  nor  did 
their  children.  They  were  never,  as  a  body,  in  the  practice  of 
taking  it.  And  yet  they  enjoyed  better  health,  attained  to  a  larger 
stature,  and,  with  fewer  comforts  of  life,  performed  more  labor,  en- 
dured more  fatigue,  and  lived,  upon  an  average,  to  a  greater  age, 
than  any  generation  of  their  descendants  who  have  been  in  the 
practice  of  taking  spirit.  As  it  was  not  necessary  for  the  fathers 
oJ  New  England,  it  is  certain  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  their  de- 
scendants, or  for  any  portion  of  our  inhabitants.  Hundreds  of 
healthy,  active,  respectable  and  useful  men,  who  now  do  not  use  it, 
can  testify  that  it  is  not  necessary.  And  this  will  be  the  testimony 
ol  every  one  who  will  only  relinquish  entirely  tl.c  use  of  it. 

It  is  by  the  temperate  and  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirit,  that  in- 
temperate appetites  are  formed.  And  the  temperate  use  of  it  can- 
not be  continued,  without,  in  many  cases,  forming  intemperate 
appetites ;  and  after  they  are  formed,  multitudes  will  be  destroyed 
by  their  gratification. 

Natural  appetites,  such  as  are  implanted  in  our  constitution  by 
the  Author  of  nature,  do  not  by  their  gratification  increase  in  their 
demands.  What  satisfied  them  years  ago,  will  satisfy  them  now. 
But  artificial  appetites,  which  are  formed  by  the  wicked  practices 
of  men,  are  constantly  increasing  in  their  demands.  What  satisfied 
them  once,  will  not  satisfy  them  now.  And  what  satisfies  them 
now,  will  not  satisfy  them  in  future.  They  are  constantly  crying, 
"  Give,  give."  And  there  is  not  a  man,  who  is  in  the  habitual  use 
of  ardent  spirits,  who  is  not  in  danger  of  dying  a  drunkard.  Be- 
fore he  is  aware,  an  intemperate  appetite  may  be  formed,  the 
gratification  of  which  may  prove  his  temporal  and  eternal  ruin. 
And  if  the  practice  should  not  come  to  this  result  with  regard  to 
himself,  it  may  with  regard  to  his  children,  and  children's  children. 
It  may  with  regard  to  his  neighbors  and  their  children.  It  may 
extend  its  baleful  influences  far  and  wide,  and  transmit  them,  with 
all  their  innumerable  evils,  from  generation  to  generation. 

Can,  then,  temperate,  sober  men  be  clear  from  guilt,  in  continuing 
a  practice  which  is  costing  annually  more  than  $30,000,000  ;  in- 
creasing more  than  three-fold  the  poor  rates  and  the  crimes  of  the 
country  ;  undermining  the  health  and  constitution  of  its  inhabitants  ; 
and  cutting  off  annually  30,000  lives  ? 

There  is  tremendous  guilt  somewhere.  And  it  is  a  truth  which 
ought  to  press  with  overwhelming  force  upon  the  mind  of  every 
sober  man,  that  a  portion  of  this  guilt  rests  upon  every  one  who, 
with  a  knowledge  of  facts,  continues  the  totally  unnecessary  and 
awfully  pernicious  practice  of  taking  ardent  spiiits.  Each  indi- 
vidual ought,  without  delay,  in  view  of  eternity,  to  clear  himself. 


68  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

and,  neither  by  precept  nor  example,  ever  again  encourage  or  even 
connive  at  this  deadly  evil.     ( Well-conducted  Farm,  pp.  9,  10,  11.) 


D.     (p.  9.) 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1811,  the  General  Association  of  Massachu- 
setts appointed  Rev.  Samuel  Worcester,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Jedediah 
Morse,  D.  D.,  Rev.  Abiel  Abbot,  Rev.  Benjamin  Wadsworth, 
Reuben  D.  Mussey,  M.  D.,  William  Thurston,  Esq.,  Joseph 
Torrey,  M.  D.,  anu  Jeremiah  Evarts,  Esq.,  a  committee  to  coope- 
rate with  committees  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut,  in  devising 
measures  which  may  have  an  influence  in  preventing  some  of  the 
numerous  and  threatening  mischiefs,  that  are  experienced  through- 
out our  country,  from  the  excessive  and  intemperate  use  of  spiritu- 
ous liquors.  This  committee  met  at  different  times  for  consultation, 
corresponded  on  the  subject,  and,  finally,  determined  to  make  an 
effort  foi  the  formation  of  a  State  Society  for  the  Suppression  of 
Intemperance.  A  sub-committee,  consisting  of  Dr.  Worcester, 
Dr.  Torrey  and  Mr.  Wadsworth,  was  appointed  to  prepare  a  Con- 
stitution. After  being  presented  to  the  whole  committee,  and  adopted, 
it  was  presented,  by  them,  to  a  more  general  meeting,  in  Boston, 
on  the  4th  of  February,  1813.  At  another  meeting  at  the  State 
House,  on  the  5th,  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  a  Society 
formed,  called  The  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  Suppres- 
sion of  Intemperance.  The  object,  as  expressed  in  the  second 
article  of  the  Constitution,  was,  "  To  discountenance  and  suppress 
the  too  free  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  its  kindred  vices,  profaneness 
and  gaming,  and  to  encourage  and  promote  temperance  and  gene- 
ral morality." 

For  a  number  of  years,  this  Society  languished.  Some  of  its 
members,  at  length,  advocated  its  dissolution  ;  and  others  retired  from 
it  in  despair.  In  the  language  of  the  late  Hon.  Isaac  Parker,  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  letter  dated 
Boston,  25th  May,  1829,  "Many,  seeing  no  happy  results,  after 
many  years  of  effort,  have  retired  from  the  field  in  despair.  I  am  one 
of  this  number ;  but  I  now  see,  and  rejoice  in  it,  that,  however  des- 
perate the  disease,  it  is  at  last  yielding  to  the  power  and  skill  of  the 
great  Physician  above,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  human 
agents  he  has  employed.  The  National  Society,  established  here 
a  few  years  ago  (meaning  the  American  Temperance  Society),  has 
given  great  decision  to  the  preexisting  Massachusetts  Society,  and 


FOURTH    REPORT 1831. APPENDIX.  69 

both  together,  with  the  aid  of  country  and  town  associations,  and 
influential  individuals,  have  been  the  secondary  causes  of  working 
the  greatest  moral  change  which  has  ever  taken  place  in  this  com- 
munity." 

The  Massachusetts  Society  still  continues  its  operations,  and, 
since  it  has  directed  its  efforts  to  the  promotion  of  entire  abstinence 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  has  been  productive  of  much  good. 

In  February,  1813,  the  same  month  in  which  the  Massachusetts 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Intemperance  was  formed,  the  Rev. 
Heman  Humphrey,  of  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  commenced  in  the 
Panoplist  and  Missionary  Magazine,  a  periodical  published  in  Bos- 
ton, edited  by  Jeremiah  Evarts,  Esq.,  a  series  of  six  numbers, 
on  the  causes,  progress,  effects,  and  remedy  of  intemperance  in  the 
United  States.  In  the  closing  part  of  these  numbers,  he  said,  "  If 
farmers  and  mechanics  would  agree  not  to  drink  spirits  themselves, 
and  not  to  provide  them  for  their  workmen ;  if,  instead  of  furnish- 
ing liquor,  they  would  give  additional  compensation  to  laborers,  fur- 
nishing them,  at  the  same  time,  with  a  generous  supply  of  nutritious 
and  palatable  drinks, — a  very  large  advance  would  be  made  toward 
banishing  the  fiery  products  of  the  distilleries  from  the  field  and  the 
shop.  And  this  would  be  no  inconsiderable  part  of  that  general 
reformation,  which  is  so  loudly  called  for,  with  regard  to  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits." 

Though  this  suggestion  was  not  extensively  followed,  even  by 
those  who  were  laboring  for  a  reformation,  yet  the  facts  which  have 
been  developed  since  the  formation  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society,  abundantly  prove  the  correctness  and  importance  of  the 
above  remarks. 


E.     (p.  16.) 

The  following  notices  have  been  extensively  circulated,  both  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe. 

"  These  discourses  (Dr.  Beecher's  on  Intemperance)  were  com- 
posed and  delivered  at  Litchfield,  in  the  year  1826.  Sir'10  *u~' 
time,  the  American  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Temperance  has 
been  formed,  and  is  now  (1827)  in  successful  operation." 

"  Temperance  Societies  took  their  origin  in  America,  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner: — The  Rev.  Dr.  Beecher,  deeply  impressed  with 
the  evils  of  drunkenness,  attacked  that  vice  from  the  pulpit  with 
so  much  vigor  as  to  engage  public  attention,  and  to  lead  to  the 
formation  of  Societies,  in  many  parts  of  the  Union,  for  its  suppres* 
sion." 

By  a  recurrence  to  the  dates,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  impression 
6* 


TO  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

made  by  the  above  notices  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts. 
Dr.  Beecher's  sermons  had  no  influence  in  the  formation  of  the 
American  Temperance  Society.  It  was  not  then  known,  by  those 
who  formed  the  American  Temperance  Society,  that  those  sermons 
had  been  preached,  though,  after  they  were  published,  in  1827,  they 
exerted  a  powerful  and  extensive  influence  in  aiding  its  operations. 


F.    (p.  23.) 

"  It  ought  to  be  mentioned,  to  the  honor  of  the  bar  of  Berkshire, 
that  they  have,  I  believe  unanimously,  entered  into  a  compact 
which  they  strictly  execute,  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance  by 
example  and  otherwise.  They  have  banished  all  ardent  spirits 
from  their  houses  at  home,  and  their  lodgings  when  at  court,  mak- 
ing literally  no  use  of  them.  They  have  also  discarded  the  use  of 
wine,  which,  at  first,  I  thought  might  be  carrying  the  thing  too  far, 
because  extremes  generally  cause  revulsions ;  but,  upon  hearing 
their  reasons,  I  am  satisfied  they  are  right.  They  do  not  object  to 
wine,  as,  of  itself,  used  in  moderation,  hurtful ;  but  the  use  of  it  in 
a  great  measure  destroys  the  power  of  example,  and  tends  much 
to  defeat  the  effect  of  any  remonstrance  they  may  have  occasion 
to  make  to  those  who  are  destroying  themselves  and  families  by 
hard  drinking.  The  poor  man,  when  urged  to  refrain,  is  apt  to 
retort,  '  Why,  if  we  could  afford  to  drink  wine,  as  you  do,  we 
certainly  would  not  drink  rum  ;  but  we  must  have  something,  as 
well  as  you ;  and  rum  is  the  cheapest  thing  we  can  get.'  It  is 
necessary  to  show  such  people  that  there  is  no  need  of  any  stim- 
ulants."    (Judge  Parker's  letter  to  Dr.  Warren.) 


G.     (p.  32.) 

„^;iry  Guise,  of  Stark  county,  Ohio,  was,  on  the  12th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1S30,  elected  to  the  office  of  sheriff  of  the  county.  His 
election  was  contested  on  the  ground  of  his  having  treated  the 
electors  with  ardent  spirits.  The  following,  delivered  by  Judge 
Hallock,  is  the  decision  of  the  court : — 

"  The  Court  here  find,  that  the  said  Guise,  on  the  12th  day  of 
October,  1830,  it  being  the  day  of  holding  the  election  in  Stark, 
for  sheriff,  at  the  tavern  of  Henry  Husser,  in  the  town  of  Canton, 
in  said  county,  did  give,  by  himself  and  agent,  to  divers  electors 


¥WJRTH    REPORT. 1S31. APPENWX.  71 

ti(  said  county,  between  two  and  three  gallons  of  spirituous  liquors,  to 
wit,  whiskey,  brand}',  and  rum,  with  the  intent  to  procure  the 
election  of  said  Guise  to  the  office  of  sheriff  of  said  county  ;  he, 
then  and  there,  being  a  candidate  for  said  office,  at  said  election. 

"  Whereupon  the  Court  do  now  here  adjudge  die  said  election  of 
said  Guise  to  said  office  void;  and  the  office  of  sheriff  of  said 
county  vacant."     (Pitts.  Her,) 


H.  (p.  33.) 
Desertions  from  the  Army  in  seven  Years. 

Yea».  Numbei, 

1823  668  $58,677         1093 

1824  811  70,398         1175 

1825  803  67,488         1208 

1826  636  54,393         1115 

1827  848  61,344          991 

1828  820  62,137         1476 

1829  1083  96,826 


Total,  5,669  $47 1,263  7,058 

(Report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  Feb.  22,  1830.) 

•'  Ardent  spirit  should  be  discontinued,  in  the  army,  as  a  part  of 
ihe  daily  rations.  I  know  from  observation  and  experience,  when 
in  the  command  of  the  troops,  the  pernicious  effects  arising  from 
the  practice  of  regular,  daily  issues  of  whiske)^.  If  the  recruit  joins 
lire  service  with  an  unvitiated  taste,  which  is  not  unfrequently  the 
case,  the  daily  privilege  and  the  uniform  example  soon  induce  him  to 
taste,  and  then  to  drink  his  allowance.  The  habit  being  acquired, 
he,  too,  soon  becomes  an  habitual  toper."  [Adjutant  Gen.  Joneses 
statement.) 

"  The  proceedings  of  courts-martial  are  alone  sufficient  to  prove 
that  the  crime  of  intoxication  almost  always  precedes,  and  is  often 
the  immediate  cause  of  desertion.  And  I  am,  moreover,  convinced, 
that  most  of  the  soldiers,  who  enter  the  army  as  sober  men,  acquire 
habits  of  intemperance  principally  by  falling  into  the  practice  of 
drinking  their  gill,  or  half  gill,  of  whiskey,  every  morning.  I  have 
known  sober  recruits,  who  would  often  throw  away  their  morning 
allowance,  but  whose  constant  intercourse  with  tipplers  would  sooi 
induce  them  to  taste  a  little,  and,  in  time,  a  little  more,  until  the 
became  habitual  drunkards.  I  am  therefore  decidedly  of  opinion. 
that  the  whiskey  part  of  the  ration  does,  slowly,  but  surely,  lead 
men  into  those  intemperate  and  vicious  habits,  out  of  which  grow 


72  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

desertions  and  most  other  crimes.  In  support  of  this  opinion.  ] 
will  only  advert  to  one  other  document.  It  is  the  subjoined  extract 
of  a  letter  from  one  of  the  most  excellent  and  exemplary  officers  of 
the  army,  which  contains  little  or  nothing  more  than  the  verbal 
statements  which  I  have  received  upon  the  same  subject,  from 
many  other  meritorious  officers."      (Maj.  Gen.  Gaines's  statement.) 

"  I  have  served  extensively  as  the  recorder  of  regimental  courts- 
martial,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  five  out  of  six  cases  of  the 
crimes  which  are  proved  before  these  courts,  have  resulted  from 
intemperance ;  and  nine  years'  experience  in  the  army  has  con- 
vinced me,  that  no  inconsiderable  proportion  of  the  desertions 
occur  in  consequence  of  intemperate  drinking,  either  of  the  desert- 
ers themselves,  or  others ;  I  say  others,  because  bad  treatment 
from  petty  officers,  while  under  the  influence  of  ardent  spirits,  has 
caused  many  to  become  disgusted  with  the  service,  and  finally  to 
desert. 

"  I  have  known  cases  like  the  following,  and  think  them  not  un- 
common. A  non-commissioned  officer,  either  inebriated  or  not, 
oppresses  a  young  soldier,  who  complains  to  his  commander ;  the 
subject  is  investigated  by  him  ;  and  the  witnesses  upon  whom  the 
complainant  relied  to  sustain  his  charge,  either  from  fear  of  the 
displeasure  of  their  non-commissioned  officer,  or  from  being  bribed 
to  hold  their  peace,  by  whiskey,  "  know  nothing."  The  pelty 
officer  produces  his  witnesses,  bought  with  spirits,  to  exculpate 
himself,  and  perhaps  cast  blame  upon  the  complainant.  The 
accused,  thus  cleared,  is  prompted  by  revenge  to  render  the  situa- 
tion of  the  soldier  as  irksome  as  possible,  who,  despairing  of  redress, 
deserts."     [Lieut.  Gallagher's  statement.) 


I.     (p.  34^ 

Letter  from  Thomas  Seivall,  M.  D.,  of  Washington,  to  John  C. 
Warren,  M.  D.,  of  Boston. 

Washington  City,  December  29,  1830. 
Dear  Sir, 

You  will  rejoice  to  learn  that  the  cause  of  temperance,  for 
which  so  much  has  been  accomplished  at  the  North,  is  extending 
its  influence  over  the  South  and  West.  For  several  weeks  past, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Edwards,  General  Agent  of  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society,  has  been  with  us,  and  has  given  a  powerful  impulse 
to  the  subject  in  this  District.  He  has  proceeded  on  the  plan  of 
addressing  the  different  religious  congregations,  and   of  forming  a 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  73 

Temperance  Society  in  each.  He  has  already  constituted  several 
on  this  principle.  Last  Sabbath  evening,  he  delivered  a  discourse 
to  a  large  and  crowded  audience,  in  the  Foundery  Chapel  in  this 
city, — embracing  the  head  of  the  War  Department,  the  Major- 
General  of  the  army,  and  other  distinguished  citizens  and  strangers. 
On  this  occasion,  lie  came  forth  with  an  array  of  facts  and  argu- 
ments altogether  overwhelming,  to  which  the  audience  listened  for 
more  than  an  hour  with  the  most  intense  interest.  At  the  close  of 
the  discourse,  he  proposed  that  a  Temperance  Society  should  be 
formed.  A  paper  was  passed  through  the  congregation,  and  in  a 
few  moments  upwards  of  one  hundred  names  were  enrolled  ;  and, 
what  we  regard  as  highly  important,  no  door  was  left  open  for  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  medicine, — no  permission  to  use  it  when 
indisposed.  The  following  is  the  form  of  the  pledge  given  : — 
"  Believing  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  is  not  only  needless,  but 
hurtful ;  that  it  is  the  cause  of  forming  intemperate  appetites  and 
habits  ;  and  that,  while  it  is  continued,  the  evils  of  intemperance 
cannot  be  prevented  ;  we  therefore  agree  that  we  will  not  use  them, 
that  we  will  not  provide  them  as  an  article  of  entertainment,  and 
that  we  will,  in  all  suitable  ways,  discountenance  the  use  of  them  in 
the  community." 

While  we  are  convinced  that  there  is  no  case  in  which  ardent 
spirit  is  indispensable,  and  for  which  there  is  not  an  adequate  sub- 
stitute, we  are  equally  assured,  that,  so  long  as  there  is  an  exception 
allowed,  and  men  are  permitted  to  use  it  as  a  medicine,  so  long  we 
shall  have  invalids  and  drinkers  among  us.  Only  let  our  profession 
take  a  decided  stand  upon  this  point,  and  intemperance  will  soon 
vanish  from  our  country. 

Among  other  cheering  indications  which  present  themselves,  it 
gives  me  pleasure  to  be  enabled  to  state,  that  the  members  of 
Congress  generally  manifest  a  deep  interest  in  the  cause,  and  avail 
themselves  of  every  opportunity  to  procure  such  publications  on 
the  subject  as  are  calculated  to  impart  information  or  excite  to 
action,  and  are  disseminating  these  among  their  constituents.  The 
Secretary  of  War  and  the  Major  General  of  the  army  appear  fully 
sensible  of  the  evils  of  intemperance,  as  known  to  exist  among  our 
soldiers,  and  are  ready  to  adopt  every  suitable  measure  to  eradicate 
it.  An  order  has  already  been  issued  for  suspending  the  rations 
of  ardent  spirit  to  the  soldiers,  in  order  that  a  fair  experiment  may 
be  made,  to  ascertain  whether  its  disuse  in  the  army  be  not  practi- 
cable,— an  experiment  which,  I  doubt  not,  will  demonstrate  the 
utility  of  the  measure,  and  constitute  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
military  life. 

Very  truly,  your  friend, 

THOMAS  SEWALL. 
Dr.  Warren. 


74  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.. 


Remarks  by  Dr.  Warren. 

The  information  contained  in  Dr.  Sewall's  letter  appears  to  me 
to  be  of  great  importance  to  the  morals  and  happiness  of  our  coun- 
try. If  the  heads  of  departments  and  members  of  Congress  take 
an  interest  in  discouraging  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  the  amount  of 
misery  which  will  be  prevented,  must  be  great  beyond  calculation. 
— The  suspension  of  the  rations  of  spirituous  liquors  to  the  army  is 
a  measure  that  may  be  very  useful.  Its  good  effects  will,  I  fear, 
be  much  diminished  by  the  permission  to  sutlers  to  sell  spirits  to 
the  soldiery,  under  permission  of  an  officer.  Tiie  consequence  of 
this  arrangement  will  be,  that  some  officers  will  grant  this  permis- 
sion, while  others  will  refuse  it;  and  in  this  way  discontent  will  arise, 
and  the  most  valuable  officers  in  the  army  become  unpopular  and 
obnoxious. — The  way  seems  to  be  open  for  a  total  prohibition  ;  and 
certainly  an  order  to  this  effect  would  greatly  increase  the  efficiency 
of  the  army.  The  opinion  of  great  bodies  of  physicians,  given  in 
the  most  solemn  manner,  is  unfavorable  to  the  use  of  spirits;  and  1 
cannot  find  language  strong  enough  to  repeat  and  impress  the  fact, 
that  these  articles  do  not  give  strength,  but  weakness.  A  momenta- 
ry flush  of  power  may  be  excited  under  their  first  impulse  ;  but 
this  is  soon  followed  by  a  moral  and  physical  failure  of  strength,  and 
a  loss  of  that  steady,  unyielding  courage  necessary  to  the  support  of 
a  regular  engagement. 

The  necessity  of  using  ardent  spirits  in  medicine  is  extremely 
limited.  Now  and  then  a  solitary  instance  presents  itself,  in  which 
there  seems  to  be  some  reason  for  preferring  alcohol  to  other  articles. 
In  the  greater  number  of  cases  of  disease  requiring  the  use  of  stim- 
ulant liquids,  wine  is  to  be  preferred  to  alcohol ;  and  the  importance 
of  this  is  much  less  than  was  thought  a  few  years  since. 

In  the  year  1827,  the  Mass.  Medical  Society  passed  a  resolution 
to  discourage  the  use  of  alcohol  and  its  preparations  in  the  treatment 
of  diseases.  Since  this  was  done,  the  use  of  brandy  as  a  medicine 
has  been  greatly  diminished  ;  and  the  spirituous  preparations  or 
tinctures  are  almost  banished  from  the  prescriptions  of  the  physi- 
cian, excepting  where  the  quantity  employed  is  so  minute  as  to  be 
of  no  consideration  in  regard  to  its  alcoholic  properties.  A  highly 
respectable  apothecary  stated  to  me  that,  since  the  passage  of  the 
resolution  alluded  to,  the  amount  of  tinctures  sold  by  him  had 
diminished  in  the  proportion  of  five  parts  out  of  six. 

The  reservation  of  the  use  of  alcohol  for  cases  of  sickness  ap- 
pears to  be  of  little  importance  in  a  medical  way,  and,  if  it  leads  to 
practical  abuses  such  a  reservation  should  not  be  made. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  75 

Letter  from  a  Gentleman  connected  with  the  Army. 

January   25,  1831. 

SlK, 

The  cause  of  temperance  in  the  army  has  for  a  year  or  two 
past  engaged  the  attention  of  some  of  our  best  and  most  enlightened 
men  in  Congress,  and  many  plans  have  been  devised  to  remedy  an 
evil  which  all  must  acknowledge  to  be  great. 

With  this  intention,  perhaps,  the  Secretary  of  War  has  lately 
issued  an  Order  (of  which  the  following  is  the  purport)  prohibiting 
the  regular  issues  of  spirits  to  the  soldiers,  to  wit  : 

1.  Regular  issues  of  spirit  are  prohibited. 

2.  Extra  issues  of  liquor  to  men  on  fatigue  duty  or  extra  service, 
being  established  by  law,  are  still  continued. 

3.  Soldiers  are  permitted  to  purchase  from  the  sutler,  at  the 
"  discretion  of  his  company  commander,  a  quantity  of  ardent  spirit 
not  to  exceed  two  gills  daily." 

This  order  will  not  answer  the  desired  purposes  ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  I  fear  it  will  do  more  evil  than  good, — and  for  the  follow- 
ing reasons : 

1.  The  order  will  have  an  unequal  operation,  because  some 
companies  in  the  army  will  be  permitted  to  purchase  from  the 
sutler  two  gills,  some  one  gill,  daily  ;  and  some  none.  This  dis- 
tinction will  tend  to  create  uneasiness  and  dissatisfaction  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  think  themselves  not  as  highly  favored  as  their 
comrades. 

2.  This  order  will  not  only  have  an  unequal  operation  as  regards 
different  companies,  but  also  in  the  same  company  at  different 
times.  The  better  to  illustrate  my  meaning,  I  will  suppose  a  case, 
which  not  only  exists  now,  but  always  will  exist,  so  long  as  we 
have  an  army : 

There  are  two  companies  living  together  at  a  military  station. 
The  commanding  officer  of  one  exercises  his  "  discretion,"  and 
permits  his  men  to  purchase  two  gills  a  day ;  while  the  other  com- 
mander will  not  suffer  his  men  to  buy  a  drop.  Let  me  ask  any 
candid  person,  if  such  a  state  of  things  is  not  likely  to  produce 
mischief. 

I  carry  my  instance  still  farther,  and  suppose  (what  is  neither 
impossible  nor  unlikely)  that,  after  a  few  months,  both  these  com- 
manders are  relieved,  and  the  companies  commanded  by  officers 
having  different  views  and  feelings  from  their  predecessors.  The 
company,  therefore,  which,  until  now,  has  been  temperate,  is  allowed 
the  utmost  latitude  in  drinking,  and  that  which  has  been  indulged 
in  the  free  use  of  ardent  spirit,  is  now  reduced  to  entire  abstinence. 


76  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

In  the  frequent  mutations  of  military  command,  these  cases  musl 
occur ;  and  will  they  not  have  a  direct  and  necessary  tendency  to 
make  soldiers  dissatisfied  with  their  situation?  And  will  not  de- 
sertions and  other  crimes  grow  out  of  them  ?  To-day  indulged  in 
dram-drinking — to-morrow  enjoined  total  abstinence — and  so  on 
through  the  alternations  of  temperance  and  ehriety, — will  not  sol- 
diers feel  that  they  are  the  helpless  objects  of  capricious  tyranny  ? — 
And  will  they  not  be  likely,  by  open  acts  of  mutiny  to  resist,  or  by 
desertion  to  flee  from  such  an  odious  and  senseless  despotism  ? 

The  evils  of  drinking — great  as  they  are,  and  dreadful  in  civil  life, 
— are  still  greater  in  the  army.  Many  acts  which,  committed  by 
citizens,  would  be  trifling  and  venial,  would,  if  committed  by  soldiers, 
be  of  a  serious  nature,  and  be  visited  with  instant  and  severe  retri  • 
bution.     Otherwise  discipline  and  subordination  would  cease. 

A  proportion  of  at  least  nine  tenths  of  crimes  committed  in  the 
army  can  be  safely  and  certainly.traced  to  excessive  drinking ;  aiid 
there  is  no  way,  that  I  can  see,  of  removing  this  evil  entirely,  except 
by  legalizing  temperance. 

Let  Congress  pass  a  law  prohibiting,  under  any  circumstances,. 
the  issue  or  sale  to  the  soldier  of  the  smallest  quantity  of  spirit. 
Such  a  law  might,  and  probably  would,  at  first,  give  uneasiness  to* 
some  confirmed  tipplers ;  but  soon  it  would  be  cheerfully  ac- 
quiesced in,  because  the  law  would  make  no  invidious  distinctions, 
and  all  would  fare  alike.  Our  army  would  gradually,  though  cer- 
tainly, become  temperate,  and  its  moral  and  religious  character  be  so 
far  improved  as  to  be  an  honor  as  well  as  safeguard  to  our  country, 

I  am,  sir,  with  respect, 

Dr. your  obliged  servant. 


J.     (p.  36. 

In  the  city  of  Washington,  there  were  granted  in  the  last  year 
60  tavern  licenses,  34  grog-shop  licenses,  4  confectionary  licenses, 
and  126  licenses  to  retail  spirits  in  quantities  not  less  than  a  pint — 
making  in  all  224  licensed  houses.  If  daily  sales  under  these  li- 
censes were  l£  gallons  each,  the  quantity  thus  sold  amounts  to 
122,528  gallons  annually.  The  population  of  the  city,  by  the  late 
census,  is  not  quite  19,000;  so  those  sales  will  average  more  iharr 
6£  gallons  to  each  person,  which  is  also  the  average  of  33  estimates 
made  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States :  we  may  therefore- 
safely  say  that  the  quantity  of  ardent  spirits  consumed  in  the  United' 
States  two  years  ago,  was  at  least  equal  to  6  gallon?  for  each  pep-- 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  77 

son;  and,  as  the  population  of  the  United  States  was,  at  that  time, 
about  12,000,000,  the  quantity  consumed  in  the  United  States  was 
72,000,000  gallons. 

Having  alluded  to  the  number  of  licenses  granted  by  the  city  of 
Washington,  I  cannot  forbear  to  notice  the  bad  policy  of  making 
die  sales  of  ardent  spirits  the  source  of  revenue. 

The  amount  raised  annually  by  the  sale  of  licenses  in  that  city, 
is  about  six  thousand  dollars.  The  expense  of  supporting  the 
poor  is  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  three  fourths  of 
which  are  admitted,  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor,  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  to  be  a  charge  upon  the 
amount  raised  by  the  sales  of  those  spirits — leaving  the  net  revenue 
from  that  source  3375  dollars.  The  quantity  of  spirits  consumed, 
to  raise  this  small  revenue,  is  122,528  gallons,  which  cost  the  con- 
sumers not  less  than  GO, 000  dollars,  which  are  worse  than  lost  to 
the  city,  and  this  is  the  amount  paid  by  the  city  to  its  tax-gatherers, 
the  retailers  of  spirits,  for  collecting  the  paltry  revenue  of  3375 
dollars.  This  amount  of  loss  would  probably  be  doubled  if  we 
were  to  add  the  loss  of  labor  and  lives,  and  the  expenses  of  litiga- 
tion, caused  by  the  use  of  the  ardent  spirits  sold  under  the  authority 
of  those  licenses. 

We  have  estimated  the  whole  quantity  consumed  in  the  United 
States  at.  72,000,000  gallons : — let  us  for  a  moment  imagine  in 
what  proportions  this  quantity  is  probably  distributed  among  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

The  women  and  children  under  16  years  of  age,  according  to 
the  census  of  1810  and  of  1S20,  constitute  three  fourths  of  the 
whole  population  of  the  United  States. 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  any  considerable  quantity  of 
ardent  spirits  is  drunk  by  the  children,  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  a  very 
small  proportion  by  the  women.  We  will  suppose,  however,  that 
the  women  and  children  consume  one  sixth  of  the  whole  quantity ; 
say  12,000,000  gallons. 

Of  the  men  over  16  years  of  age,  constituting  one  fourth  of  the 
whole  population,  one  half,  probably,  consist  of  those  who  wholly 
abstain,  and  of  those  who  do  not  drink  habitually,  and  who  may 
therefore  average  half  a  gill  a  day ;  one  eighth  of  12,000,000  is 
1,500,000  persons,  at  half  a  gill  a  day,  equal  to  8,554,687^  gallons. 

One  half  of  the  residue  of  the  men,  being  one  sixteenth  of  the 
whole  population,  equal  to  750,000  persons,  may  be  habitual 
temperate  drinkers,  averaging  three  half  gills  a  day,  amounting  to 
12,832,031^  gallons.  One  half  of  the  remaining  men,  being  fa 
of  the  whole  population,  equal  to  375,000  persons,  may  be  regular 
topers,  and  occasional  drunkards,  who  average  3  gills  a  day,  equal 
to  12,832,031  %  gallons. 
7 


78  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

Papulation.  Gallons. 

9,000,000  .  .  consume  .  .  12,000,000 

1,500,000  .  .  "  .  .  8,554,6874 

750,000  .  .  "  .  .  12,832,03l£ 

375,000  .  .  "  .  .  12,832,031^ 


11,625,000     .     .  "  .     .       46,218,750 

375,000     .     .  "  .     .       25,781,250 

12,000,000     .     .  "  .     .       72,000,000 

These  quantities  added  make  46,218,750  gallons;  which,  de- 
ducted from  the  whole  quantity  consumed,  72,000,000  gallons, 
will  leave  25,781,250  gallons  to  be  divided  annually  among  the 
375,000  remaining  men,  who  will  average  more  than  six  gills  a 
day,  and  who  will,  of  course,  be  confirmed  drunkards. 

This  estimate  supposes  that  one  in  every  16  is  an  habitual  tem- 
perate drinker,  and  that  one  in  every  32  is  a  regular  tippler  and 
occasional  drunkard,  and  that  one  in  32  also  is  a  confirmed  drunk- 
ard. 

Whether  this  distribution  of  the  quantity  be  correct  or  not,  it  is 
morally  certain  that  the  whole  quantity  is  annually  consumed,  or 
rather  was  consumed  prior  to  the  year  1828,  when  the  influence 
of  the  Temperance  Societies  began  to  be  generally  felt. 

When  we  consider  that  a  large  portion  of  the  ardent  spirits 
consumed  is  of  foreign  manufacture,  and  that  much  of  the  domes- 
tic is  mingled  with  the  imported  liquor,  and  sold  to  the  consumer 
as  foreign,  at  1^  or  1£  dollar  a  gallon — that  the  foreign  spirits  used 
in  taverns  is  sold  at  4  dollars  a  gallon — and  that  even  the  whiskey 
at  the  dram-shops  is  retailed  at  1  dollar  28  cents  to  2  dollars  a 
gallon — there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  average  price  to  the 
consumer  is  at  least  66§  cents  a  gallon. 

Seventy-two  millions  of  gallons  of  ardent  spirits,  at  66§  cents  is 
forty-eight  millions  of  dollars. 

This  amount  is  annually  lost  to  the  country ;  as  much  lost  as  if 
as  many  dollars  were  actually  cast  into  the  sea ;  for  the  spirits  are 
consumed  without  the  least  benefit  in  return. 

The  grain  destroyed,  the  labor  of  raising  the  grain,  and  convert- 
ing it  into  spirits,  the  fuel  consumed  in  the  manufacture,  are  all 
lost  to  the  country. 

Although  the  farmer  is  paid  for  his  grain,  and  the  distiller  for 
his  liquor,  yet  the  poor  man  who  buys  it,  gets  no  return  but  pov- 
erty, disease  and  misery.  To  him,  and  to  the  country,  it  is  worse 
than  a  total  loss. 

The  wealth  of  a  country  arises  from  the  produce  of  the  soil  and 
the  labor  of  the  inhabitants.  The  loss  of  labor,  therefore,  is  the  loss 
of  wealth. 


FOURTH  RETORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  79 

There  are,  in  the  United  States,  375,000  regular  drunkards. 
These,  upon  an  average,  do  not  earn  more  than  two  thirds  as  much 
as  if  they  were  sober. 

Here  is  an  annual  loss  of  100  days'  labor  of  each  drunkard, 
worth,  if  he  were  sober,  at  least  40  cents  a  day ;  making  a  loss  of 
15,000,000  of  dollars  per  annum. 

It  is  estimated  that,  of  the  habitual  drunkards,  one  in  ten  annu- 
ally comes  to  a  premature  death,  and  that  their  term  of  life  is,  upon 
an  average,  shortened  ten  years.  Of  the  375,000  regular  drunk- 
ards, therefore,  37,500  are  killed  annually  by  ardent  spirits,  and 
ten  years'  labor  of  each  of  them  is  lost  to  the  country.  It  is  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  each  of  them,  if  sober,  might  have  earned,, 
upon  an  average,  50  dollars  a  year  more  than  the  cost  of  his  sup- 
port. The  loss  of  ten  years'  labor  of  37,500  men,  at  50  dollars 
per  annum,  is  a  loss  of  13,750,000  dollars. 

It  is  admitted,  on  all  hands,  that  at  least  three  fourths  of  the 
whole  cost  of  crime  in  the  United  States,  is  chargeable  to  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits. — Mr.  Hop-kins,  of  New  York,  who  seems  to 
have  been  very  cautious  in  his  estimates,  has  stated  in  his  communi- 
cation to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Temperance,  published  in  the  first  annual 
Report  of  that  Society,  that  the  result  of  his  calculation  gave  a  total 
amount  of  eight  million  seven  thousand  dollars  as  the  cost  of  crime 
to  the  United  States — three  fourths  of  which,  chargeable  to  intem- 
perance, is  si.x  million  Jive  hundred  and  tiventy-Jive  thousand  dollars. 

It  is  also  generally  admitted,  that  three  fourths  of  the  cost  of 
pauperism  is  chargeable  to  the  same  cause. 

Mr.  Hopkins,  in  the  same  communication,  estimates  the  whole 
annual  cost  of  pauperism  in  the  state  of  New  York,  exclusive  of  the 
city,  to  be  3,800,000  dollars,  the  whole  of  which,  he  thinks,  might 
be  fairly  charged  to  intemperance.  I,  however,  take  only  three 
fourths  of  it,  which  is  two  millions  cis;ht  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 

To  these  might  be  added  the  expense  of  those  paupers  who  are 
supported  wholly  or  partially  by  private  and  individual  charity  ; — 
orphan  asylums,  insane  and  other  hospitals,  and  houses  of  refuse 
for  juvenile  offenders — and  the  loss  of  labor  of  prisoners  confined 
for  U'ial,  or  for  punishment  by  simple  imprisonment,  or  for  debt — 
three  fourths  of  all  which  are  properly  chargeable  to  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits.  The  amount  of  private  charity  is  probably  much 
greater  than  that  of  public. 

The  corporation  of  the  city  of  Washington  pays  annually,  for 
the  support  of  the  poor,  about  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

The  population  is  nineteen  thousand,  consisting  of  about  three 
thousand  five  hundred  families ;  surely  the  average  amount  of  private 
charities  must  be  more  than  one  dollar  a  year  for  each  family. 


\ 


80  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

We  may  add,  therefore,  for  this  item,  another  sum  of  two  million 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  paid  by  the  temperate  for 
the  intemperate. 

The  average  number  of  prisoners  in  the  jail  of  the  county  of 
Washington,  committed  on  criminal  prosecutions,  is  about  30.  The 
population  of  the  county  is  nearly  thirty  thousand.  At  that  rate, 
the  average  number  of  criminal  prisoners  in  the  United  States  is 
twelve  thousand;  the  labor  of  each  of  whom,  if  sober,  would  be 
worth,  upon  an  average,  probably  50  dollars  a  year,  beyond  the 
cost  of  his  support,  amounting  to  six  hundred  thousand  dollars — 
three  fourths  of  which,  chargeable  to  intemperance,  is  four  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Let  us  now  put  these  items  together,  and  count  the  cost  of  the 
consumption  of  ardent  spirits  in  the  United  States. 

Dollars. 

1st — 72,000,000  gallons  of  ardent  spirit,  at  66§  cts.,  4S,000,000 
2d — 100  days'  labor,  c-f  375,000  drunkards,  lost,  at  40  c,  15,000,000 
3d — 10  years'  labor,  of  37,500  men,  killed  by  ardent 

spirits,  at  50  dollars  per  annum  for  each  man,  18,750,000 
4th — |  of  the  cost  of  crime  to  the  United  States,  .  6,525,000 
5th — %  of  the  cost  of  pauperism  to  the  United  States,  2,850,000 
6th — %  of  the  amount  of  private  charities,  ....  2,850,000 
7th — %  of  1  year's  labor  of  1200  prisoners  lost,  at  $53,      450,000 

The  annual  loss  to  the  country  by  the  use  of  ar.  spirits  is  94,425,000 

In  this  estimate,  no  account  is  taken  of  the  loss  of  the  labor  of  the 
paupers,  prisoners  confined  for  debt,  nor  of  the  cost  of  litigation 
created  or  excited  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  nor  the  salaries  of 
judges,  the  expenses  of  jurors,  nor  of  the  fees  of  counsel. 

How  many  paupers  must  be  made  by  the  abstraction  of  ninety- 
four  millions  of  dollars  annually  from  the  small  earnings  of  that 
class  of  society  upon  which  the  greater  part  of  this  loss  must  fall ! 
And  what  immense  benefit  would  the  inhabitants  of  this  country 
derive  from  ninety-four  millions  of  dollars  expended  annually  for 
their  best  interest  and  comfort ! 

An  annuity  of  ninety-four  millions  would,  in  twenty  years,  with 
simple  interest  only,  at  six*  per  cent,  per  annum,  upon  each  year's 
annuity,  from  the  time  it  became  payable  to  the  end  of  the  twenty 
years,  amount  to  3,064,800,000  dollars.  The  valuation  of  all  the 
lands,  houses  and  slaves  in  the  United  States,  in  the  year  1815,  ex- 
clusive of  Virginia,  South  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  who  agreed  to 
pay  their  quotas  of  the  direct  tax  without  a  valuation,  was 

1,479,735,098  45-100  dollars.      If  we   add   for 

Virginia,  200,000,000  " 

S.  Carolina,       48,862,192 

Tennessee,        42,715,618  "    the  aggregate  will  be 

1,771,312,908  45-100      " 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  81 

And  if  we  suppose  the  value  to  have  increased,  since  1815,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  population,  the  present  value  of  all  the  houses,  lands 
and  slaves  in  the  United  States,  is  2,519,009,222  dollars;  so 
that  the  amount  annually  lost  to  the  country  by  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  buy  up  all  the  houses,  lands 
and  slaves  in  the  United  States  once  in  every  20  years.  (Judge 
Cranch's  Address.) 


K.     (p.  42.) 

The  opinion  of  the  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Society 
is  supported  by  such  facts  as  the  following  : — A  distinguished  gen 
tleman  from  that  state  writes — "  The  great  and  good  work  of  the 
Lord  goes  on  in  the  midst  of  us  ;  and  the  temperance  movement, 
like  John  the  Baptist,  prepares  the  way  of  the  Lord.  One  might 
follow  in  the  wake  of  this  movement,  and  say,  '  The  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  at  hand.'  " 

Another  gentleman,  from  another  part  of  the  state,  writes — "In 
this  county,  it  is  notorious  that  those  towns  which  have  been  the 
most  active  in  the  temperance  cause  have  been  the  most  blessed 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  In  all  the  towns  in  this  county,  there  have 
been  revivals  ;  and,  as  a  general  remark,  it  may  be  said,  that,  in 
every  town,  those  neighborhoods  which  have  done  the  most  in  the 
promotion  of  temperance,  have  been  most  blessed  in  religious 
matters.  In  C ,  the  spirit  has  seemed  to  follow  the  temper- 
ance effort  from  neighborhood  to  neighborhood  ;  and  so  in  other 
places.  In  short,  so  manifest  is  the  connection  between  temper- 
ance and  revivals  of  religion,  in  this  county,  that  we  no  more 
expect  the  latter,  where  the  former  does  not  exist,  than  we  expect 
snow  in  summer.  This,  of  course,  is  a  general  remark.  There 
are,  undoubtedly,  exceptions." 


L.     (p.  43.) 

The  connection  between  the  promotion  of  temperance  and  the 
special  success  of  the  gospel  in  the  salvation  of  men,  appears  to  be 
confined  to  no  particular  spot,  but  is  common  in  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

A  gerdeman  from  Vermont  writes — "  I  am  more  and  more  con- 
vinced of  the  importance  of  the  Temperance  Reformation,  consid- 
ered merely  in  its  bearings  on  the  success  of  the  gospel.  A  few 
7* 


82  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

years  ago,  the  churches  were  withering  under  an  alcoholic  curse. 
Members  generally  were  moderate  drinkers,  and  some  immoderate. 
As  the  sin  of  intemperance  naturally  increased,  a  reformation  on 
the  principle  of  total  abstinence  became  indispensable.  I  have 
known  churches  and  congregations  on  the  brink  of  a  hopeless 
overthrow,  because  some  leading  member  or  members  would 
drink  rum. 

"  How  long  the  church  and  congregation  under  my  care 
would  have  sustained  themselves  without  a  Temperance  Reform,  J 
cannot  tell ;  but  to  me  ruin  appeared  to  be  near.  We  were  almost 
deluged  with  liquid  fires.  Two  distilleries,  five  stores,  four  taverns, 
all  grog-shops,  sent  abroad  their  poisonous  effluvia.  A  little  more  than 
two  years  ago,  I  determined  to  have  a  Temperance  Society  here,  at  a 
time  when  there  were  none  in  this  part  of  the  country.  I  took  the 
constitution  recommended  by  the  Parent  Society,  and  spent  nearly 
three  weeks,  pleading  the  cause  of  temperance  from  house  to 
house.  The  result  was  a  Temperance  Society  of  100  members. 
Hardly  had  we  time  to  forget  the  struggle  and  the  victory  of  temper- 
ance, before  the  Holy  Spirit  descended,  and  a  revival  of  six  months' 
continuance  rejoiced  our  souls.  The  extent  of  the  revival  seemed 
to  be  measured  by  the  success  of  the  Temperance  Reform.  There 
were  in  town  about  100  hopeful  conversions.  So  far  as  we  could 
ascertain  facts,  and  form  an  opinion,  the  number  of  converts  dif- 
fered little  from  the  number  who  first  broke  away  from  the  iron 
bondage  of  custom,  and  adopted  the  principle  of  abstinence.  Those 
families  where  the  parents  had  enlisted  on  the  side  of  temperance, 
were  more  richly  blessed  with  divine  influence  than  others.  In- 
deed, the  revival  scarcely  prevailed,  without  the  influence  of  the 
Temperance  Reformation. 

"  The  history  of  other  towns  in  this  vicinity,  is  similar  to  ours.     In 

B ,  the  Temperance  Reformation  has  been  triumphant.   Scarcely 

was  the  Temperance  Movement  begun  when  an  interesting  revival 
of  religion  commenced,  and  the  two  reformations  mutually  aided 
and  strengthened  each  other. 

"  In  A ,  and  H ,  and  W ,  and  C ,  there  are 

revivals  of  religion  of  great  interest ;  bringing  into  the  kingdom, 
not  only  children  and  youth,  but  the  aged,  and  men  of  influence. 
The  revivals  have  followed  directly  after  the  commencement  of  an 
efficient  Temperance  Reform. 

"  The  cause  of  temperance  in  M has  also  been  wonderfully 

successful.  The)-  have  a  Temperance  Society  of  nearly  1000 
members.  There,  also,  a  heavenly  influence  has  followed  in  the 
track  of  temperance,  and  there  is  now  a  glorious  revival  of  religion." 

A  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  writes — "In  1829,  a  number  of 
young  men  formed  themselves  into  a  Temperance  Society.  A  few 
days  after,  the  revival  of  religion  began  to  show  itself.     Within  a 


fourth  report. — 1831. — appendix.  83 

few  weeks,  most  of  die  young  men,  who  were  meet  active  in  the 
Temperance  Society,  were  rejoicing  in  hope.  The  revival  has 
■added  164  to  the  church  of  which  I  am  pastor,  and  nearly  40  to 
the  Baptist  church  in  this  place.  91  of  the  164  are  males. 
Our  Temperance  Society  contains  nearly  300  members,  a  large 
proportion  of  whom  are  youth.  What  connection  the  temperance 
efforts  in  this  place  sustained  to  the  revival,  God  only  knows;  but  I 
cannot  but  believe  that  they  prepared  she  way,  by  removing  one  of 
the  most  powerful  barriers  against  religious  impression." 

A  distinguished  civilian    from    Connecticut  writes — "  In   1827, 

there  were  in  20  retailers  of  spirits;  in  April,  1831,  there 

were  only  six,  with  a  prospect  that  two  of  them  will  soon  stop  the 
sale,  leaving  only  four  in  a  population  of  4000.  The  diminished 
consumption  of  spirits  is  at  least  equal  to  the  reduction  in  the  num- 
ber of  retailers.     In   H there  is  no  retaiier,  and  nearly  all  the 

farms  and  the  fisheries  are  carried  on  without  spirit.  The  church 
in  that  place  is  a  Temperance  Society ;  not  a  member  drinks 
spirit.  In  Y — — s,  also,  the  church  is  a  Temperance  Society. 
Four  excommunications  have  taken  place  since  its  formation,  and 

three  of  them  for  intemperance.     In  K society,  there  were,  in 

1827,  seven  retailers  ;  there  is  now  only  one,  with  a  prospect  that  he 
will  relinquish  the  sale  of  spirit  in  the  course  of  this  year.  The 
number  of  members  in  our  Temperance  Society  is  about  GOO.  On 
a  large  majority  of  the  best  farms,  no  liquor  is  drunk.  The  oppose rs 
have  been,  for  a  year  or  two,  crying  out,  that  a  reaction  would  soon 
come  ;  that  the  cold  water  system  could  not  possibly  hold  out. 
But  never  were  we  so  far  from  a  reaction  as  at  the  present  moment, 
The  cause  is  daily  gaining  strength  ;  and  new  members  are  obtained 
almost  every  week.  The  reformation  has  also  operated  to  expel 
ivine-grogs  (rightly  named)  almost  as  entirely  as  distilled  liquors. 
(  think  1  have  not  been  offered  a  glass  of  wine,  or  spirit,  in  this 
region,  for  two  years  past — a  simple  and  direct  result  of  the  Great 
Reformation. 

"  We  are  hoping  that  God  will  visit  us  in  the  way  of  his  grace,  as 
he  has  other  places  in  our  land  ;  and  we  trust  that  the  Temperance 
Movement  will  prove  a  preparatory  way  for  a  revival  of  pure  reli- 
gion ;  as  we  rejoice  to  hear  it  has  been  in  many  places." 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  means  of  grace  in  that  place 
have  been  attended,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  with  the  blessings  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Numbers  are  now  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory 
of  God,  and  many  more  are  anxiously  inquiring  what  they  shall 
do  to  be  saved.  This  is  also  the  case  with  many  other  towns  in  the 
vicinity,  in  which  similar  efforts  had  been  made  for  the  promotion  oT 
temperance. 

A  gentleman  from  New  Jersey  writes,  after  mentioning  the 
efforts  which  have  been  made  for  the  promotion  of  temperance — "1 


84  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 

have  also  to  communicate  to  you  still  more  cheering  intelligence. 
I  refer  to  the  fruits,  by  which  we  know  the  tree  to  be  of  God's  own 
right  hand  planting.  Immediately  after  the  celebration  of  the  last 
anniversary  (preceding  which  we  had  made  renewed  efforts  to 
increase  the  number  of  our  members),  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
poured  upon  us  in  copious  effusions.  Nearly  100  have  been 
gathered,  we  trust,  into  the  church  of  Christ.  The  patrons  of  our 
Society  have  participated  largely  in  the  work  ;  and  he  who  now 
writes  you,  and  has  tilled  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Temperance 
Society  since  its  organization,  was  soon  made  to  feel  the  claims 
which  a  God  of  infinite  mercy  had  upon  him,  for  his  love  and  his 
service." 

From  Pennsylvania  a  gentleman  writes — "  In  February,  1829,  a 
Temperance  Society  was  formed  here ;  and  during  the  spring  and 
summer,  the  cause  made  rapid  advances.  Temperance  was  the 
all-engrossing  topic.  In  the  ensuing  fall,  a  powerful  revival  of  reli- 
gion commenced  in  the  Presbyterian  churches  under  my  care  ; 
which,  in  the  course  of  the  winter,  extended  to  the  Baptist  churches 
in  the  neighborhood.  About  300  persons  have  been  added  to  the 
communion  of  the  two  denominations.  Of  these  a  very  large 
proportion  had  previously  become  members  of  the  Temperance 
Society.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  revival  was  the  most 
powerful  in  those  neighborhoods  in  which  the  temperance  cause 
had  been  most  triumphant;  and  scarcely  perceptible  in  those  where 
the  way  had  not  thus  been  previously  prepared. 

"  It  was  also  remarked,  that  those  professors  of  religion  who  ojh 
posed  the  progress  of  temperance,  and  continued  to  use  the  drink 
of  drunkards,  and  the  cup  of  devils,  in  no  instance  appeared  to 
share  in  the  reviving  influences  of  the  Spirit;  while  those  who  had 
been  most  active  in  the  cause  of  temperance  seemed  to  share  those 
influences  in  the  largest  measure.  I  could  mention  many  instances 
of  hopeful  conversion,  in  which  the  Temperance  Society  was  the 
first  in  the  chain  of  means  which  conducted  them  to  a  Savior. 
Multitudes  in  this  section  of  country  will  bless  God  to  all  eternity, 
diat  such  a  Society  has  been  established  here.     A  revival  of  religion 

has  succeeded  a  temperance  movement  at  M ,  in  this  county ; 

and  another  at  S ,  in  Virginia.     Our  Temperance  Society  has 

at  present  about  300  members." 

Many  similar  testimonies  might  be  given,  and  from  various  parts 
of  die  country. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  85 


M.  (p.  48.) 

Illustrations  of  the  Truth,  that  God  visits  the  Iniquities  of  tht 
Fathers  upon  the  Children;  and  that  the  Way  of  Transgressors 
is  hard. 

FROM  A  MERCHANT  IN  NEW  YORK. 

"  Dear  Sir — Without  undertaking  to  answer  the  specific  ques- 
tions proposed  in  your  letter  as  Secretary  of  the  City  Temperance 
Society,  I  will  relate  some  facts  that  have  come  under  my  own  ob- 
servation.    I  have   been  engaged  in  trade   and  commerce  in  tins 
city  upwards  of  twenty-two  years,  and  occupied  the  store  I  am  now 
in  during  die  whole  time.     Not  an  individual  originally  near  me  is 
now  to  be  found,  save  three  flour  merchants.     In  casting  my  eyes 
around  the  neighborhood,  and  looking  back  to  the  period  above  men- 
tioned, I  ask,  Where  are  they  now  ?  On  my  left  were  a  father  and 
his  two  sons,  grocers,  in  prosperous  business.     The  sons  went  down 
to  the   grave  several  years  since  in   povertv,  confirmed  drunkards. 
On  my  right  was  a   firm  of  long  and  respectable  standing,  engaged 
in  foreign  commerce,  the  junior  partner  of  which  some  years  since 
died,  confirmed  in  this  habit.     Five  or  six  doors  above,  was  civ, 
holding  a  highly  responsible  situation  under  our  State  Government ; 
at  first,  he  was  seen  to  slop  and  take  a  little  gin  and  water ;  soon 
he  was  seen  staggering  in  the  street ;  presently  was  laid  in  the  irrave, 
a  victim  to  intemperance.     On  the  corner  immediately  opposite  my 
store  was  a  grocer,  doing  a  moderate  business.     Being  addicted  to 
drink,  in  a  state   of  intoxication  he  went  into  the  upper  loft  of  his 
store  at  noon-day,  put  fire  to  an  open  keg  having  powder  in  it,  blew 
off  the  roof  of  his  store,  and  himself  into  eternity.     One  door  beyond 
this  corner  was  a  father,  an  officer  in  one  of  our  churches,  a  grocer,. 
and  his  two  sons :  both  sons  have  long  since  been  numbered  with 
the  dead,  through  the  effects  of  drink  ;  a  son-in-law  of  the  above 
father,  pursuing  the  same  business,   following  the  practice  of  the 
sons,  has  come  to  the  same  end  ;  a  young  man,  clerk  and  succes- 
sor in  the  same  store,  has  also  gone  down  to  the  grave  from  the 
same  cause.     On  the  other  side  of  the  Slip,  a  wealthy  grocer  died, 
leaving  a  family  of  several  young  men,  three  of  whom,  together  with 
a  sister  and  her  husband,  have  since  died  in  poverty,  confirmed 
drunkards.     Next  door  to  this,  a  junior  partner  of  one  of  the  most 
respectable  grocers  in   this  city  has  long  since  followed  the  above 
from  the  same  cause,  leaving  behind   him  two  brothers,  compara- 
tively young  in  years,  but  old  in  this  vice,  now  living  on  the  charity 
of  their  friends.     On  looking  down  the  street  in  front  of  my  store, 
there  were  seen  three  of  middle  age,  grocers,    but  a   few  years 
since  in  prosperous  business,  now  numbered  with  the  dead  from  the 


86  kXIEIIH    >       rESIPERANCE  SOCIETY; 

same  cause.  In  the  same  square  in  which  I  now  am,  whs  an  indi- 
vidual at  the  head  of  an  extensive  shipping  house,  owning  several 
stores,  renting  from  six  to  ten  hundred  dollars  each  a  year ;  owning 
aid  occupying  a  house  in  Broadway,  worth  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
with  a  family  of  several  sons  and  daughters  living  in  affluence. 
From  a  moderate  drinker,  he  became  a  confirmed  drunkard  :  his 
property  is  now  all  gone,  his  family  scattered,  and  himself  a  vagabond 
about  our  streets.  His  next  door  neighbor,  a  partner  in  one  of  our 
most  respectable  shipping  houses,  has  gone  to  his  grave,  in  early  life, 
from  the  same  cause,  not  having  had  time  to  spend  the  large  amount 
of  his  previous  earnings.  Near  me  was  one  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  of  respectable  and  pious  parentage,  liberally  educate*',  engaged 
extensively  in  foreign  commerce,  and  awhile  one  of  our  Citv  Coun- 
cil. In  the  short  spree  of  three  years,  be  was  a  bankrupt,  a  drunk- 
ard, and  in  his  grave  !  But  my  heart  sickens  at  the  detail,  which  I 
could  extei  1. 

"Most  of  those  mentioned  were  men  with  whom  1  have  had 
daily  intercourse  in  the  way  of  business,  and,  but  for  this  cause, 
might  at  this  moment,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  Providence,  have 
been  useful  members  of  society."      (iV.   Y.  City  Report.') 


IV.    (p.  49.) 

"  But  I  pass  on  to  notice  one  state  of  the  system  produced  by 
ardent  spirit,  too  important  and  interesting  to  leave  unexamined.  It 
ss  that  predisposition  to  disease  and  death,  which  so  strongly  charac- 
terizes the  drunkard  in  every  situation  in  life. 

It  is  unquestionably  true,  that  many  of  the  surrounding  objects 
in  nature,  are  constantly  tending  to  man's  destruci ion.  The  excess 
of  heat  and  cold,  humidity  and  dryness,  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
season,  noxious  exhalations  from  the  earth,  the  floating  atoms  in  the 
atmosphere,  the  poisonous  vapors  from  decomposed  animal  and 
vegetable  matter,  with  many  other  invisible  agents,  are  exerting 
their  deadly  influence;  and  were  it  not  that  every  part  of  his  system 
is  endowed  with  a  self-preserving  power,  a  principle  of  excitability, 
or,  in  other  words,  a  vital  principle,  the  operations  of  the  economy 
would  cease,  and  a  dissolution  of  his  organic  structure  take  place. 
But,  this  principle  being  implanted  in  the  system,  reaction  takes 
place,  and  thereby  a  vigorous  contest  is  maintained  with  the  waning; 
elements  without,  as  well  as  with  the  principle  of  decay  within. 

It  is  thus  that  man  is  enabled  to  endure,  from  year  to  year,  the 
toi's  and  fatigues  of  life,  the  variation  of  heat  and  cold,  and  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  season  ;  that  he  is  enabled  to  traverse  every 
region  vi  t.;e  nlobe,  and  to  live  with  almost  equal  ease  under  the 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  87 

equator,  and  in  the  frozen  regions  of  the  north.  It  is  by  this  power 
that  all  his  functions  are  performed,  from  the  commencement  to  the 
close  of  life. 

The  principle  of  excitability  exists  in  the  highest  degree  in  the 
infant,  and  diminishes  at  every  succeeding  period  of  life  ;  and  if  man 
is  not  cut  down  by  disease  or  violence,  he  struggles  on,  and  finally 
dies  a  natural  death  ;  a  death  occasioned  by  the  exhaustion  of  the 
principle  of  excitability.  In  order  to  prevent  the  too  rapid  exhaus- 
tion of  this  principle,  nature  has  especially  provided  for  its  restora- 
tion by  establishing  a  period  of  sleep.  After  being  awake  for 
sixteen  or  eighteen  hours,  a  sensation  of  fatigue  ensues,  and  all  the 
functions  are  performed  with  diminished  energy  and  precision. 
Locomotion  becomes  feeble  and  tottering,  the  voice  harsh,  the  in- 
tellect obtuse  and  powerless,  and  all  the  senses  blunted.  In  this 
state,  the  individual  anxiously  retires  from  the  light,  and  from  the 
noise  and  bustle  of  business,  seeks  that  position  which  requires  the 
least  effort  to  sustain  it,  and  abandons  himself  to  rest.  The  will 
ceases  to  act,  and  he  loses  in  succession  all  the  senses.  The  mus- 
cles unbend  themselves,  and  permit  the  limbs  to  fall  into  the  most 
easy  and  natural  position.  Digestion,  respiration,  circulation,  secre- 
tion, and  the  other  functions,  go  on  with  diminished  power  and 
activity ;  and  consequently  the  wasted  excitability  is  gradually 
restored.  After  a  repose  of  six  or  eight  hours,  this  principle  be- 
comes accumulated  to  its  full  measure,  and  the  individual  awakes, 
and  finds  himself  invigorated  and  refreshed.  His  muscular  power 
is  augmented  ;  his  senses  are  acute  and  discriminating  ;  his  intellect 
active  and  eager  for  labor  ;  and  all  his  functions  move  on  with 
renewed  energy.  But  if  the  stomach  be  oppressed  by  food,  or  the 
system  excited  by  stimulating  drinks,  sleep,  though  it  may  be  pro- 
found: is  never  tranquil  and  refreshing.  The  system  being  raised 
to  a  state  of  feverish  excitement,  and  its  healthy  balance  disturbed, 
its  exhausted  excitability  is  not  restored.  The  individual  awakes, 
but  finds  himself  fatigued  rather  than  invigorated.  His  muscles 
are  relaxed,  his  senses  obtuse,  his  intellect  impaired,  and  all  his 
functions  disordered  ;  and  it  is  not  until  he  is  again  under  the  in- 
fluence of  food  and  stimulus,  that  he  is  fit  for  the  occupations  of 
life.  And  thus  he  loses  the  benefits  of  this  wise  provision  of  repose, 
designed  for  his  preservation.  Nothing,  probably,  tends  more  pow- 
erfully to  produce  premature  old  age,  than  midnight  revels  or  dis- 
turbed and  unrefreshing  sleep. 

It  is  also  true,  that  artificial  stimulus,  in  whatever  way  applied, 
tends  constantly  to  exhaust  the  principle  of  excitability  of  the 
system,  and  this  in  proportion  to  its  intensity,  and  the  freedom  with 
which  it  is  applied. 

But  there  is  still  another  principle  on  which  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit  predisposes  the  drunkard  to  disease  and  death.  It  acts  on  the 
blood,  impairs  its  vitality,  deprive?  it  of  its  red  color,  and  thereby 


68  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE    SOCIETf, 

renders  it  unfit  to  stimulate  the  heart  and  other  organs  through 
which  it  circulates  ;  unfit,  also,  to  supply  materials  for  the  different 
secretions,  and  to  renovate  die  different  tissues  of  the  body,  as  well 
as  to  sustain  the  energy  of  the  brain — offices  which  it  can  perform 
only  while  it  retains  its  vermilion  color  and  other  arterial  proper- 
ties. The  blood  of  the  drunkard  is  several  shades  darker  in  its 
color  than  that  of  temperate  persons,  and  also  coagulates  less 
readily  and  firmly,  and  is  loaded  with  serum — appearances  which 
indicate  that  it  has  exchanged  its  arterial  properties  for  those  of  the 
venous  blood.  This  is  the  cause  of  the  livid  complexion  of  the 
inebriate,  which  so  strongly  marks  him  in  the  advanced  stage  of 
intemperance.  Hence,  too,  all  the  functions  of  his  body  are  slug- 
gish, irregular,  and  the  who^e  system  loses  its  tone  and  its  energy. 
If  ardent  spirit,  when  taken  into  the  system,  exhausts  the  vita! 
principle  of  the  solids,  it  destroys  the  vital  principle  of  the  blood 
also  ;  and  if  taken  in  large  quantities,  produces  sudden  death  ;  in 
which  case  the  blood,  as  in  death  produced  by  lightning,  by  opium, 
or  by  violent  and  long-continued  exertion,  does  not  coagulate. 

The  principles  laid  down  are  plain,  and  of  easy  application  to  the 
case  before  us. 

The  inebriate  having,  by  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirit,  exhaust- 
ed, to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  the  principle  of  excitability  in  the  solids, 
the  power  of  reaction,  and  the  blood  having  become  incapable  of 
performing  its  office  also,  he  is  alike  predisposed  to  every  disease, 
and  rendered  liable  to  the  inroads  of  every  invading  foe.  So  fisr, 
therefore,  from  protecting  the  system  against  disease,  intemper- 
ance ever  constitutes  one  of  its  strongest  predisposing  causes. 

Superadded  to  this,  whenever  disease  does  lay  its  grasp  upon  the 
drunkard,  the  powers  of  life  being  already  enfeebled  by  the  stimu- 
lus of  ardent  spirit,  he  unexpectedly  sinks  in  the  contest,  and  but 
too  frequently  to  the  mortification  of  his  physician,  and  the  surprise 
and  grief  of  his  friends.  Indeed,  inebriation  so  enfeebles  the  pow- 
ers of  life,  so  modifies  the  character  of  disease,  and  so  changes  the 
operation  of  medical  agents,  that,  unless  the  young  physician  has 
studied  thoroughly  the  constitution  of  the  drunkard,  he  has  but  par- 
tially learned  his  profession,  and  is  not  fit  for  a  practitioner  of  the 
present  age. 

These  are  the  true  reasons  why  the  drunkard  dies  so  easily,  and 
from  such  slight  causes. 

A  sudden  cold,  a  pleurisy,  a  fever,  a  fractured  limb,  or  a  slight 
wound  of  the  skin,  is  often  more  than  his  shattered  powers  can  en- 
dure. Even  a  little  excess  of  exertion,  an  exposure  to  heat  or  cold, 
a  hearty  repast,  or  a  glass  of  cold  water,  not  unfrequently  extinguishes 
the  small  remains  of  the  vital  principle. 

In  the  season  that  has  just  closed  upon  us,  we  have  had  a  melan- 
choly exhibition  of  the  effect  of  intemperance  in  the  tragical  death 


roURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  89 

of  some  dozens  of  our  fellow  citizens  ;  and,  had  the  extreme  heat 
which  prevailed  for  several  days  continued  for  as  many  weeks,  we 
should  hardly  have  had  a  confirmed  drunkard  left  among  us. 

Many  of  those  deaths  which  came  under  my  notice  seemed  al- 
most spontaneous,  and  some  of  them  took  place  in  less  than  one  hour 
from  the  first  symptom  of  indisposition.  Some  died  apparently  from 
a  slight  excess  of  fatigue,  some  from  a  few  hours'  exposure  to  the 
sun,  and  some  from  a  small  draught  of  ccld  water — causes  quite  in- 
adequate to  the  production  of  such  effects  in  temperate  persons." 
(Dr.  SewaWs  Address.) 

"A  circular  letter,  addressed  by  the  New  York  City  Society,  to  a 
number  of  the  most  respectable  physicians  of  that  state,  proposing 
certain  interrogatories  respecting  the  effect  of  ardent  spirits  upon  the 
human  body,  has  been  answered  by  at  least  forty  of  those  to  whom 
it  was  sent ;  and  whose  names  are  given  in  the  Report  of  that  Society. 

From  those  answers  it  appears,  1st,  that  the  use  of  distilled  li- 
quors, by  those  in  health,  is,  in  no  case  whatever,  beneficial  for  the 
preservation  of  health,  or  for  the  endurance  of  fatigue  or  hardship. 

2d.  That  disease  and  death  are  the  inevitable  result  of  the  con- 
tinued use  of  alcohol  upon  the  healthy  human  system. 

3d.  That  ardent  spiritneiter  operates  as  a  preventive  of  epidemic 
or  pestilential  diseases  ;  but  is  very  generally  an  exciting  cause  of 
such  diseases,  and  always  aggravates  them. 

4th.  That,  the  tone  of  the  nervous  system  being  impaired  by  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  the  constitution  thus  becomes  more  sus- 
ceptible to  the  impression  of  all  noxious  agents. 

5th.  That  nothing  has  a  tendency  more  immediately  and  com- 
pletely to  destroy  the  moral  faculty;  than  intemperate  drinking. 

6th.  That  the  intellectual  faculties  are  impaired  by  alcohol.  Ev- 
ery excess  is  a  voluntary  insanity,  and  if  often  repeated,  and  carried 
beyond  a  certain  degree,  it  often  produces  the  horrible  disease  called 
delirium  tremens;  in  which,  while  the  animal  powers  are  prostrated, 
the  mind  is  tortured  with  the  most  distressing  and  fearful  imagina- 
tions. 

7th.  That  intemperance  destroys  the  susceptibility  of  the  body  to 
the  operation  of  medicine,  so  far  as  it  injures  the  tone  of  the  nervous 
system. 

That  the  disease  of  an  habitual  drunkard  will  generally  run  its 
course.,  uninfluenced  by  medical  treatment ;  that  in  the  exhaustion 
so  produced  by  intemperance,  medicines  are  often  useless,  and  the 
diseases  of  the  water-drinker  are,  comparatively,  few  in  number; 
in  general,  readily  controlled  ;  and  when  the  malady  is  removed,  the 
constitution  is  easily  restored  to  its  original  health  and  vigor. 

8th.  One  fifth,  and  perhaps  one  fourth,  die,  directly  or  indirectly, 
from  intemperance.  (This  is  the  answer  of  the  only  physician  who 
has  undertaken  to  make  an  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  deaths  pro- 
8 


90  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 

duced  by  ardent  spirits.  The  others  speak  in  general  terms,  and 
say  a  large  proportion.) 

9th.  That  ardent  spirits  are  the  most  common  source  of  insanity, 
and  that  they  operate  by  producing  inflammation  of  the  brain,  as 
well  as  other  diseases  of  that  organ,  and  of  the  nervous  system  in 
general.* 

10th.  That  no  person  who  uses  distilled  liquor  can  reasonably 
expect  to  avoid  the  contraction  of  an  unnatural  thirst  for  stimulus. 

11th.  That  the  specific  effects  of  alcohol  are  produced  by  a  two- 
fold process : — 

First  by  its  direct  effects  upon  the  nervous  system ;  and  secondly 
by  being  absorbed  into  the  circulation  without  undergoing  digestion. 

12th.  That  ardent  spirit  is  not  beneficial  in  cases  of  dyspepsy  or 
in  chronic  debility ;  but  in  most  cases  is  prejudicial. 

13th.  That  it  is  not  safe  as  a  family  medicine. 

14th.  Finally,  that  about  one  hundred  physicians  have  died  in  the 
city  of  New  York  within  the  last  thirty  years ;  of  whom  forty  were 
intemperate;  but  that  the  character  of  the  profession,  in  that  respect, 
is  now  much  improved. 

To  this  testimony  may  be  added,  that,  according  to  the  accounts 
published  of  the  sudden  deaths  during  the  excessive  heat  of  the  past 
summer,  it  appears,  upon  inquiry,  that  in  every  instance  where  the 
death  has  been  ascribed  to  the  drinking  of  cold  water,  or  to  the  di- 
rect effect  of  the  heat,  the  deceased  was  in  the  habitual  use  of  ardent 
spirit ;  and  not  one  instance  is  recorded  of  such  a  death  where  the 
person  was  in  the  habit  of  entire  abstinence. f 

*  Doctor  Carter,  one  of  the  resident  physicians  of  the  Philadelphia  alms- 
house infirmary,  in  a  paper  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  the  Medical 
Sciences,  calls  ardent  spirit  a  destructive  poison,  and  speaks  of  mania  a  potu 
as  the  usual  penalty  of  excessive  drinking.  In  the  establishment  in  which  he 
is  connected,  there  were,  from  November  21st,  1828,  to  February  1st,  1820,  70 
cases  of  mania  a  potu,  and  from  June  10th  to  September  lOlh,  1825),  75  cases  ; 
making  145  cases  in  six  months. 

t  It  is  stated  in  a  letter  from  Greenwich  (Conn.)  to  the  Editor  of  the  Journal 
of  Humanity,  dated  July  26,  1830,  that,  "  during  the  preceding  week  of  exces- 
sively hot  weather,  no  man  who  had  been  of  cold  water  character  for  any  length 
of  time  had  given  out ;  that  two  persons  had  died  suddenly  in  the  vicinity,  but 
that  both  were  of  intemperate  habits  ;  that  others  had  stopped  work,  but  all 
of  them  were  given  to  the  use  of  strong  drink." 

In  the  Journal  of  Humanity  of  August  19,  1830,  is  the  following  article,  taken 
from  the  Belvidere  Apollo: — 

"  Nine  cases  of  death  from  drinking  cold  water  have  occurred  among  the 
laborers  engaged  in  excavating  the  sections  of  the  Bristol  and  Morris  (New 
Jersey)  canal  adjoining  this  place.  We  are  assured  by  highly  respectable 
physicians,  that,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred,  the  victims  of  cold 
water  drinking  are  those  who  have  been  addicted  to  the  free  use  of  ardent 
spirits." 

"  In  the  last  week  but  one  in  July  last,  the  deaths  in  New  York  were  204 ; 
1 1  of  which  were  from  drinking  cold  water,  and  22  by  convulsions.  In  the  same 
week  in  Philadelphia,  the  deaths  were  196 ;  of  which  11  were  from  drinking  cold 
water.  6  from  heat,  G  from  intemperance,  and  22  from  convulsions. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  VI 

It  is  said  by  Doctor  Hosack  in  his  late  address,  that  it  appears 
from  the  society  of  Friends,  that,  in  consequence  of  their  habitual 
temperance,  one  half  of  the  members  of  that  society  live  to  the  age 
of  47  ;  and  that  one  in  ten  lives  to  be  80  :*  whereas  the  average 
of  human  life  is  33  years,  and  not  more  than  one  in  40,  of  the  gen- 
eral population,  lives  to  be  80  years  of  age.  The  amount  of  human 
life,  then,  gained  by  temperance,  is  more  than  the  difference  between 
33  and  47 — or  an  average  of  14  years  gained  in  every  life — which 
is  equal  to  42  per  cent."     {Judge  Cranch's  Address.) 

"  It  appears  from  our  former  remarks,  that  the  blood,  by  its  circula- 
tion, conveys  to  every  part  of  the  body  the  nutritious  matters  of 
which  it  is  composed,  while  each  organ  is  endowed  with  the  power 
of  selecting  from  the  common  mass,  the  materials  both  for  its  own 
nourishment,  and  for  the  performance  of  its  peculiar  functions,  and 

It  will  be  recollected  that  about  the  same  time  a  very  considerable  alarm  took 
place  in  the  neighboring  town  of  Georgetown  (D.  C),  in  consequence  of  a  great 
number  of  sudden  deaths  among  the  laborers  upon  the  canal;  20  or  30  having 
died  in  the  course  of  a  week.  An  extract  from  a  letter  from  that  town  dated 
July  27th,  1830,  was  published  in  the  Baltimore  Gazette,  in  which  the  writer 
says — '  I  regret  to  add  that  death,  in  its  most  appalling  form,  has  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  tiiis  town  and  vicinity.  It  seems  to  be  confined  to  the  laboring 
classes  in  general,  but  more  especially  to  the  emigran's  working  upon  the  ca- 
nal. Its  approach  seems  to  be  preceded  by  a  wild  delirium,  which  holds  till 
the  body  shrinks  from  exhaustion,  and  after  a  few  hours'  continuance  in  this 
condition,  the  spirit  departs  from  its  mortal  tenement.  Shortly  after  death  the 
corpse  takes  a  dark  hue,  and  becomes  nearly  black.  In  the  Roman  Catholic 
grave-yard,  I  have  been  informed  that  as  many  as  14  were  interred  in  one  day. 
The  laborers  are  chiefly  members  of  that  church.  The  disease  is  not  always 
fatal.  There  have  been  several  cases  of  recovery. — It  is  represented  by  the 
physicians,  that,  so  far  as  regards  the  native  citizens,  the  town  was  never 
healthier.' 

At  the  time  of  this  alarm,  I  caused  inquiry  to  be  made  of  the  coroner,  the 
undertaker,  and  the  town  physician,  and  was  satisfied  that,  in  every  case  of 
sudden  death,  the  deceased  had  been  in  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirit. 

In  the  Journal  of  Humanity  of  '2d  September,  1830,  the  Editor  says — 'A 
gentleman  of  the  greatest  respectability  from  the  south  asserted,  the  other 
day.  in  our  hearing,  that  those  who  fell  victims  in  the  southern  climes,  are 
almost  invariably  those  who  indulge  in  the  free  use  of  ardent  spirits.  So  says 
the  New  York  Journal.  The  same  paper  mentions  the  death  of  three  persons 
in  its  vicinity,  occasioned  by  heat  and  drinking  cold  water,  all  of  whom  were 
intemperate.' 

A  gentleman  of  respectability  (Mr.  Symonton),  whose  family  has  an  inter- 
est in  the  island  of  Key  West,  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  informed  me  that  the 
island  was  very  sickly  last  year,  and  many  died  of  the  fever  ;  but  that  all  who 
died  had  been  in  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits  ;  that  this  fact  was  ascertained 
by  a  minute  investigation  of  every  case  ;  and  that  the  evidence  was  so  satisfacto- 
ry, that  the  inhabitants  this  year  have  generally  abstained  from  distilled  liquors  ; 
so  that  not  more  than  one  gallon  has  been  consumed  this  year  for  every  barrel 
used  last  year.  The  consequence  is,  that  this  year  they  have  been  uncommonly 
healthy. 

The  fact  that  nine  tenths,  if  not  all,  the  deaths  from  drinking  cold  water, 
happen  among  those  who  are  in  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits,  is  so  impor- 
tant, that  I  have  deemed  it  expedient  to  state  this  evidence  upon  which  the 
assertion  is  founded." 

*  This  fact  is  stated  also  in  M'Kinzey's  5000  Receipts 


92  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

of  returning  to  it  the  refuse  materials  which  are  no  longer  of  use. 
The  blood  is  thus  a  sort  of  common  carrier,  conveying  from  part  to 
part  whatever  is  intrusted  to  it  for  the  common  benefit.  When 
obliged  to  carry  spirit  (and  it  carries  it  so  reluctantly  that  some  phy- 
sicians have  doubted  whether  spirit  ever  actually  enters  the  blood), 
it  presents  it,  as  it  does  its  other  commodities,  to  the  several  organs 
for  their  selection  :  but,  as  we  have  seen,  they  all  decline  it.  The 
head  says,  "  My  nerves  are  calmer,  my  thoughts  are  clearer,  without 
it, — I  beg  to  be  excused  ;"  the  heart  says,  "  My  motions  are  more 
regular,  my  affections  are  purer,  without  it, — I  have  no  occasion  for 
it ;"  the  limbs  say,  "  Our  strength  is  firmer,  our  vigor  is  more  dura- 
ble, without  it, — we  need  it  not ;"  all  say,  "  It  cannot  nourish  us,  it 
cannot  sustain  us, — we  will  none  of  it;"  and  at  length,  rejected  by 
ail,  except  by  those  organs  whose  peculiar  office  it  is  to  convey  out 
of  the  blood  its  refuse  and  worthless  parts,  it  is  taken  up  by  them 
and  thrown  out  of  the  body.  How  happy  for  mankind,  did  the 
reason  of  man  conduct  him  to  the  same  practical  wisdom,  which  is 
thus  given  by  his  Creator  to  the  instinctive  excitabilities  of  his  ani- 
mal faculties  !  But,  unhappily,  these  several  organs,  although  they 
may  refuse  what  is  unsuitable  to  them,  cannot  escape  without  suf- 
fering. Our  carrier,  inflamed  by  his  burden,  though  he  received  it 
at  first  with  reluctance,  becomes  the  insolent  pedlar,  who  insults  and 
abuses  the  customers  who  decline  his  wares. 

The  office  of  the  stomach,  as  is  well  known,  is  to  digest  the  food, 
and  prepare  its  nutritious  parts  for  absorption  into  the  blood.  This 
it  does  chiefly  by  means  of  the  juices  which  are  formed  in  its  coats, 
to  be  mixed  with,  and  dissolve  the  food.  When  these  juices  are  in 
a  healthy  condition,  the  digestion  is  well  performed  ;  when  they  are 
unhealthy,  we  have  flatulence,  oppression,  and  a  host  of  ills.  Now 
the  stomach,  in  common  with  the  other  parts  of  the  body,  is  pre- 
served in  health  by  a  proper  state  both  of  its  nutrition  and  of  its  ex- 
citability. Whenever  it  is  excited  by  an  unnatural  stimulus, — and 
we  have  sufficiently  shown  that  ardent  spirit  is  an  unnatural  stim- 
ulus,— although  the  action  may  be  increased  for  a  short  time,  debil- 
ity immediately  follows,  and  the  next  portion  of  food  is  imperfectly 
digested.  If  this  indigestion  is  at  once  met  by  a  temporary  absti- 
nence, or  judicious  diet,  it  may  soon  be  removed.  But  the  sensa- 
tions by  which  it  is  accompanied,  form  a  temptation  to  renew  them 
by  repeating  the  stimulus.  Indeed  the  digestion  itself  may  for  a  time 
be  improved  by  a  daily  repetition  of  the  excitement.  But,  then, 
every  such  repetition  exhausts  a  certain  portion  of  the  excitability,  and 
this  process  cannot  go  on  long  before  the  powers  of  the  stomach  be- 
come so  debilitated,  that  no  food  is  properly  digested,  and  there  is 
an  uneasiness  which  craves  relief  by  some  new  stimulus.  It  is  this 
uneasiness,  this  gnawing  sensation,  that  constitutes  one  of  the  great- 
est obstacles  to  breaking  off  the  habit  of  taking  spirit,  whenever  such 
a  habit  has  been  be*mn. 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  93 

In  consequence  cf  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  the  food  is 
digested,  either  a  sufficient  quantity  of  nutritive  matter  is  not  prepar- 
ed to  be  absorbed  into  the  blood,  or  it  is  absorbed  in  a  crude  state, 
and  not  well  suited  to  the  purposes  of  nutrition.  Thus  all  the  parts 
of  the  body  suffer  from  the  delinquency  of  the  stomach.  ]t  is  well 
known  that  all  the  several  organs  of  the  body  exert  an  influence 
upon  each  other  by  means  that  are  not  fully  understood  ;  which 
physicians  call  sympathetic.  The  sympathies  of  the  stomach  are 
more  extensive  than  those  of  any  other  part ;  and  hence  it  is  that 
when  this  organ  is  disordered,  a  greater  variety  and  extent  of  suf- 
fering is  the  consequence,  than  is  produced  by  an  equal  extent  of 
injury  to  any  other  part. 

We  come  next  to  speak  of  the  effect  of  the  use  of  spirit  upon  the 
liver.  The  principal  function  of  this  organ  is  to  aid  in  the  process 
of  digestion.  As,  in  the  performance  of  this  function,  its  actions  are 
associated  with  those  of  the  stomach,  so  many  of  the  effects  of  dis- 
ease are  of  a  similar  character.  There  are,  however,  one  or  two 
particulars  in  which  the  effects  are  so  different  as  to  demand  a  sep 
arate  though  concise  consideration.  The  liver  complaint  and  the 
jaundice  are  sufficiently  known  to  be  the  frequent  consequences  of 
intemperance.  But  it  seems  not  to  be  so  well  known  that  a  more 
moderate  use  of  spirit  produces  a  strong  tendency  to  the  same  dis- 
eases. The  liver  is  easily  excited  to  extraordinary  action,  not  only 
by  what  affects  the  stomach,  with  which  it  is  so  closely  associated, 
but  also  by  whatever  powerfully  stimulates  the  general  system,  and 
especially  by  strong  emotions  of  the  mind.  When  the  excitement 
is  moderate,  such  as  is  produced  by  a  proper  diet,  or  by  a  rational 
employment  of  the  mental  faculties,  then  the  effect  upon  this  organ 
is  salutary  and  healthful.  But  if,  from  either  cause,  the  excitement 
becomes  too  great,  it  tends  to  disease  ;  and  the  tendency  is  increas- 
ed with  everv  repetition.  This  explanation  may  show  how  it  is 
that  any  quantity  of  ardent  spirit,  however  moderate,  has  an  injurious 
effect  upon  the  functions  of  the  liver. 

I  shall  notice  only  one  more  class  of  the  effects  of  ardent  spirit ; 
and  this  is  its  influence  upon  the  brain  and  nervous  system.  It  is 
here  that  we  have  exhibited  the  phenomena  of  that  most  distressing 
of  diseases,  delirium  tremens.  The  tremblings, — the  watchfulness, 
which  opium  itself  can  scarcely  conquer, — the  characteristic  delirium, 
so  full  of  fearful  apprehensions,  that  seem  like  the  embodied  repre- 
sentations of  a  guilty  conscience, — all  are  the  result  of  undue  excite- 
ment of  the  nervous  system  by  ardent  spirit ;  and  all  united  consti- 
tute a  measure  of  distress  and  anguish,  which  is  none  too  forcibly 
expressed  by  the  name  given  to  this  disease  among  the  sailors  in  our 
naval  service,  the  horrors.  The  miserable  victim  is  deprived  of 
his  understanding  before  he  is  aware  that  he  is  sick,  as  if  to  show 
that  die  drunkard  has  outlived  his  probation  ;  and  he  sinks  into  death 
8* 


94  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

without  one  moment's  opportunity  to  profit  by  the  alarm  of  his 
danger. 

But  you  will  say,  my  reader,  This  is  the  disease  of  the  drunkard : 
why  speak  of  its  horrors  to  me  ?  I  drink  a  little,  it  is  true,  perhaps 
daily, — sometimes  oftener,  and  sometimes,  it  may  be,  not  for  several 
days ;  surely  I  am  no  drunkard  ;  and  why  talk  to  me  of  delirium 
tremens?  Be  it  so,  you  are  no  drunkard  ;  are  you  not  in  the  way 
to  become  one?  Or,  concede  that  you  are  safe  from  this  danger, 
still  you  are  not  so  safe  as  you  imagine  from  this  most  appalling  dis- 
ease. Some  of  the  worst  cases  of  it  that  I  have  ever  seen  (and  the 
number  that  1  have  seen  is  so  great  that  my  heart  shudders  at  the 
recollection  of  them)  have  been  of  persons  who  had  rarely  or  never 
been  known  to  he  intoxicated.  Men  have  been  taken  down  by  this 
delirium,  who  have  regarded  themselves,  and  have  been  regarded 
by  their  neighbors,  as  temperate  men.  They  were  known  to 
drink  occasionally,  indeed  ;  but  they  would  have  resented  as  much 
as  you  do  to  be  told  that  they  were  intern pe rate.  Nor  is  this  the 
only  evil.  The  nervous  system  is  a  nicely  adjusted  structure,  which 
superintends  the  functions  of  the  whole  living  body.  There  are 
many  degrees  of  derangement,  of  which  it  is  susceptible  ;  all  of 
which  are  of  more  or  less  importance,  although  they  may  net  amount 
to  so  severe  and  fatal  a  disease  as  this  of  which  wTe  have  spoken. 
Every  glass  of  spirit  that  you  drink  does  some  violence  to  the  deli- 
cacy of  this  complicated  and  beautiful  system  ;  and  every  repetition 
of  the  glass  destroys  the  harmony  of  one  of  those  thousand  strings 
of  which  your  life  is  composed. 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  as  follows.  We  have 
seen  that  ardent  spirit  can  be  of  no  possible  benefit  to  the  human 
constitution,  and  is  hurtful,  unless  in  some  peculiar  and  rare  cases 
of  disease,  in  which  its  administration,  so  as  to  do  good  and  not 
harm,  requires  the  skill  of  a  judicious  physician.  We  have  seen, 
further,  that  to  take  spirit  only  occasionally,  and  even  rarely,  incurs 
a  risk,  and  , an  imminent  one,  of  being  drawn,  by  a  sort  of  necessity, 
to  taking  it  again  and  again,  until  a  habit  is  formed  of  taking  it,  first 
in  moderate  and  then  in  larger  quantities,  until  the  unhappy  individ- 
ual., with  little  or  no  consciousness  of  his  danger,  becomes  a  con- 
firmed, unreclaimed,  despairing  drunkard.  Lastly,  we  have  seen 
that,  should  so  strange  a  thing  be  accomplished,  as  that  a  man 
should  persevere  in  limiting  his  quantity  of  spirit  to  what  may  be 
termed,  in  comparison  with  that  of  others,  a  moderate  allowance, 
still  he  is  by  no  means  exempt  from  the  evil  effects  upon  his  health 
and  constitution. 

Wherefore,  my  dear  reader,  I  conclude  once  more  with  the  ad- 
vice to  drink  no  spirit.  It  is  not  good  for  your  health  ;  but  it 
tends  directly  to  induce  disease,  and  to  shorten  human  life." 
(Dr.  Ha1  eh  Essay.) 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  95 

"  All  the  healthy  functions  are  the  result  of  the  action  of  appropri- 
ate agents  upon  the  several  organs.  Tims  light  is  adapted  to  the 
eye,  air  to  the  lungs,  appropriate  food  to  the  digestive  organs,  re- 
spectively ;  giving  origin  to  the  functions  of  vision,  respiration,  and 
assimilation. 

But  where  has  nature  provided  a  receptacle  for  ardent  spirits  ? 
What  organ  requires  their  stimulus,  to  enable  it  to  perform  its  office  ? 
What  gland  possesses  the  power  of  extracting  from  them  the  small- 
est portion  of  nutriment,  or  any  other  ingredient  which  can  be  use- 
fully employed  in  the  animal  economy  ? 

On  every  organ  they  touch  they  operate  as  a  poison.  No  where 
in  the  human  body  are  they  allowed  even  a  lodgment,  until  the 
vital  powers  are  so  far  prostrated  that  they  cannot  be  moved. 
They  are  hurried  onward  from  one  organ  to  another,  marking  their 
course  with  irregularity  of  action  and  disturbance  of  function,  until 
at  last,  as  a  common  nuisance,  they  are  taken  up  by  the  emuncto- 
ries — the  scavengers  of  the  system — and  unceremoniously  excluded. 
When,  through  decay  of  organic  vigor,  this  process  ceases,  the  work 
of  destruction  is  drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  last  glimmerings  of  life 
are  soon  extinguished. 

The  records  of  every  hospital,  and  the  recollections  of  every  in- 
telligent physician,  will  furnish  multitudes  of  examples  in  which 
mild  diseases  have  been  rendered  severe,  and  severe  ones  fatal,  in 
consequence  of  the  use  of  spirits.  This  is  more  particularly  the 
case  during  the  prevalence  of  epidemics  and  in  extremely  warm 
weather. 

A  British  surgeon  many  years  ago  stated,  that  in  his  opinion  half 
the  sudden  deaths  that  happen  in  the  community  are  in  a  fit  of  in- 
toxication, softened  into  some  milder  name,  not  to  ruffle  the  feelings 
of  friends  in  laying  them  before  the  public ;  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  at  least  an  equal  proportion  of  all  the  sudden  accidents  requiring 
the  aid  of  surgery,  such  as  wounds,  dislocations,  and  broken  bones, 
are  occasioned  in  the  same  manner. 

These  things  physicians  tell  j'ou  from  no  sinister  views,  from 
no  lurking  principle  of  selfishness.  For  they  well  know  that,  when 
distilled  and  stimulating  liquors  shall  be  banished  from  the  commu- 
nity, the  fountain  of  one  half  of  all  chronic  diseases — a  fruitful 
source  of  their  emolument — will  he  dried  up  ;  that  a  large  propor- 
tion of  surgical  operations  will  be  uncalled  for  ;  and  that  the  number 
and  intensity  of  acute  diseases  will  be  materially  diminished. 

When  a  person  Vmaccustomed  to  stimulants  is  induced  for  the 
first  time  to  take  a  glass  of  spirits,  an  instantaneous  excitement  is 
produced.  The  pulse  becomes  more  frequent ;  the  face  is  flushed  ; 
and  the  functions  of  the  body  and  the  mind  are  hurried ;  the  eye 
sparkles  ;  the  tongue  is  unloosed ;  the  imagination  is  excited ;  the 
whole  scene  assumes  the  appearance  of  vivacity,  and  glee,  and 
happiness. 


96  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

But,  after  all,  it  is  unnatural.  It  is  not  the  glow  of  health.  It  19 
not  the  vivacity  of  youth.     It  is  not  the  buoyancy  of  innocence. 

It  is  the  flush  of  approaching,  fever ;  the  excitement  of  momen- 
tary delirium ;  the  hilarity  of  the  incipient  maniac  ;  and  it  cannot 
endure.  Lassitude,  weakness  and  depression  are  its  inevitable  re- 
sults. A  shock  has  been  given  to  the  constitution ;  the  laws  of 
health  and  life  have  been  violated,  and  the  first  chastisement  inflicted. 

Suppose  the  warning  to  be  disregarded,  and  habits  of  daily  tip- 
pling established.  The  rosy  hue  of  health  is  exchanged  for  a  deep 
scarlet ;  the  eye  loses  its  intelligence  ;  the  voice  becomes  husky ;  the 
blood  parts  with  its  florid  color  ;  the  appetite  is  impaired  ;  the  mus- 
cles waste  ;  the  face  is  bloated  ;  and  in  rapid  succession  the  liver, 
the  digestive  organs,  the  lungs,  and  heart,  and  brain,  lose  their  vital 
forces,  and  but  imperfectly  perform  their  functions  ;  and  sooner  or 
later  the  constitution  is  broken  down,  organic  disease  supervenes, 
and  death  closes  the  scene. 

Since  life  is  extinct,  send  now  for  a  surgeon,  and  let  the  body  be 
inspected  for  the  benefit  of  the  living. 

The  stomach  is  enlarged  or  contracted  ;  often  indurated,  and  al- 
ways diseased  ;  the  intestinal  canal,  a  mass  of  disease  ;  the  mucous 
membrane  through  its  whole  extent,  irritated ;  the  liver,  shrunk, 
dense,  discolored,  and  its  vessels  nearly  obliterated ;  the  lungs,  en- 
gorged, adhering,  often  filled  with  tubercles  ;  the  brain,  hardened, 
as  if  it  had  been  immersed  for  weeks  in  alcohol. 

Every  tissue  proclaims  but  too  distinctly  the  injuries  it  has  receiv- 
ed. There  are  no  marks  of  weakness  or  decrepitude,  as  the  result 
of  natural  decay  and  advancing  age  ;  but  all  the  organs,  in  accents 
awfully  impressive,  speak  of  poison,  of  madness,  of  self-immolation. 
The  anatomist  turns  away  in  horror ;  the  last  funeral  rites  are  per- 
formed ;  the  earth  closes  over  the  dust ;  the  scene  is  forgotten. 

This  is  the  short  history  of  thousands  in  our  own  time  and  coun- 
try, and  of  untold  millions  of  other  times  and  in  other  lands. 

Could  I  present  a  picture  of  all  the  diseases  and  death-bed  scenes 
occasioned  by  spirits,  which  it,  has  been  my  painful  lot  to  witness 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  every  one  present  would  involuntarily 
start  back  with  horror ;  the  feeling  would  be  universal.  If  such  are 
the  effects  of  spirits,  let  them  be  banished  from  the  world. 

If  the  preceding  remarks  are  well  founded,  to  a  man  in  health 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  temperate  use  of  spirits.  In  any  quantity, 
they  are  an  enemy  to  the  human  constitution ;  their  influence  upon 
the  physical  organs  is  unfavorable  to  health  and  life  :  they  produce 
weakness,  and  not  strength  ;  sickness,  and  not  health  ;  death,  and  not 
life.  Is  the  moderate  use,  or  any  use,  of  such  an  article  as  this,  to 
be  accounted  temperance  ? 

I  appeal  to  every  philanthropist,  patriot,  Christian,  to  take  part  in 
the  reform ;  to  avoid  the  use  of  spirits  as  a  violation  of  the  laws  of 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX. 


97 


life  ;  to  abstain  from  the  unholy  traffic  as  from  a  traffic  in  human 
blood."     (Dr.  Aiders  Address.) 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  do  hereby  declare  our  conviction,  that 
ardent  spirits  are  not  to  be,  regarded  as  a  nourishing  article  of  diet ; 
that  the  habitual  use  of  them  is  a  principal  cause  of  disease,  poverty, 
and  misery  in  this  place  ;  and  that  the  entire  disuse  of  them,  would 
powerfully  contribute  to  improve  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  com- 
munity." 

"This  document  has  received  the  signatures  of  four  Professors  of 
the  Medical  Faculty  in  the  University,  of  eleven  Members  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Physicians,  of  the  President  and  twenty-seven 
Fellows  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  and  of  thirty-four  other 
medical  practitioners : — 77  in  all."  (Report  Glasgow  Temp.  Soc.) 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  hereby  declare  that,  in  our  opinion,  noth- 
ing would  tend  so  much  to  the  improvement  of  the  health  of  the 
community  as  an  entire  disuse  of  ardent  spirits,  which  we  consider 
as  the  most  productive  cause  of  the  diseases  and  consequent  pover- 
ty and  wretchedness  of  the  working  classes  of  Dublin  : — 


Alex.   Jackson,   M.    D., 

John    O'Brien,    M 

D, 

Rob.  Bell,  M.  D. 

State  Physician. 

Vice-Presid.    K. 

and 

Maurice  Chilis. 

John   CVampton,   M.  D., 

Q.  Coll. 

C.  E.  H.  Orpen. 

Prof.  Mat.  Med. 

John  Breen,  M.  D. 

W.  Stokes,  M.  D. 

R.  Carmichael. 

Thos.  Hewson. 

J.  A.  Crawford,   M.  D. 

Fr.  L'Estrange. 

J.  W.  Cusack. 

W.  W.  Campbell. 

S.  Wilmot,  Prof.  Surgery. 

Hen.  Marsh,  M.D. 

Prof. 

Will.  Renny. 

Philip    Crampton,    Sur- 

Med. Pract.  Coll. 

Sur. 

J.  Kirby. 

geon  General. 

Eph.  M'Dowel. 

John  Osborne,  M.  D. 

R.  M.  Peile. 

N.  Adams,  M.  D. 

W.  J.  Morgan,  M.  D. 

Thos.  Mills,  M.  D. 

J.  Browne,  M.  D. 

R.  Collins,  M.  D.,  Mas- 

Cusack Roney. 

John  Houston. 

ter  Lyino;-in  Ho^p. 

J.  Cheyne,M.  D.,  Phy- 

John M'Donnell. 

John  Mollan,  M    D. 

sician  General. 

J.  Harvey,  M.  D. 

G.  A.  Kennedy,  M.  D. 

A.   Colles,  Prof,  of  Sur- 

R. L.  Nunn. 

Rob.  Law,  M.  D. 

gery. 

Corn.  Daly,  M.  D. 

Ch.  Johnson,  M.  D. 

Francis   Barker,  M.   D., 

Will.  Auchinleck. 

George  Hayden. 

Prof.  Chem   T.  C.  D. 

Francis  White. 

C.  J.'  Madden. 

Thos.  H.  Orpen,  M.  D. 

R.      M'Namara, 

Prof. 

J.  C.  Brennan." 

S.  B.  Labatt,  M.  D. 

Mat.  Med. 

"  Being  thoroughly  convinced,  by  long  and  extensive  observation 
amongst  the  poor  and  middling  classes,  that  there  does  not  exist  a 
more  productive  cause  of  disease,  and  consequent  poverty  and 
wretchedness,  than  the  habitual  use  of  ardent  spirits,  I  cannot  there- 
fore hesitate  to  recommend  the  entire  disuse  of  such  a  poison,  rather 
than  incur  the  risks  necessarily  connected  with  its  most  moderate 
use.  "  William  Harty, 

"  Physician  to  the  Prisons  of  Dublin." 
(Glasgoiv  Temperance  Society  Record.) 

"  In  Glasgow,  according  to  Dr.  Cleland's  Tables,  there  has  been  a 
very  great  increase  in  the  mortality  since  1822,  the  year  in  which 


98  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

the  duty  on  distilled  spirit  was  reduced.  In  1821,  the  number  of 
deaths  was  3G86  ;  in  1822,  3G90 — being  an  increase  only  of  4  ;  but 
in  1823,  the  year  when  the  low  duties  began  to  operate,  the  mortal- 
ity rose  to  4627  ;  and  in  1824,  it  amounted  to  4670,  being  an  in- 
crease, in  the  former  year,  of  no  less  than  937,  and  in  the  latter,  of 
980  deaths,  compared  with  1822."     (Bo.) 

"  Let  every  man  who  indulges  in  the  use  of  spirits,  ponder  well  on 
the  declaration  of  a  committee  of  one  of  the  most  enlightened  med- 
ical societies  in  our  land.  '  Beyond  comparison,  greater  is  the  risk 
of  life  undergone  in  nearly  all  diseases,  of  whatever  description,  when 
they  occur  in  those  unfortunate  men  who  have  been  previously  dis- 
ordered by  those  poisons.'  Such  men  too,  it  may  be  added,  are 
much  more  liable  to  the  attacks  of  disease  than  those  who  totally 
abstain  from  alcohol.  In  both  these  ways,  therefore,  the  use  of 
spirits,  even  in  the  greatest  moderation,  tends  to  shorten  life." 
[Prof.  Hitchcock's  Address.) 

"  Of  33  persons  found  dead  in  one  city,  29  were  killed  by  intern 
perance. 

Of  77  persons  found  dead  in  different  places,  the  deaths  of  67, 
according  to  the  coroners'  inquests,  were  occasioned  by  strong  drink. 

Of  94  adults,  who  died  in  one  city,  in  one  year,  the  deaths  of 
more  than  one  third  were,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Medi- 
cal Association,  caused,  or  hastened,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  in- 
temperance. 

And  in  another  city,  of  67  adults  who  died  in  one  year,  28  were 
Killed  in  the  same  way.  Who  slew  all  these  ?  And  who  will  be  held 
responsible  at  the  divine  tribunal  ?  Those  who  were  knowingly  ac- 
cessory, by  furnishing  the  liquor,  and  those  who  were  actively  instru- 
mental in  producing  the  result;  in  violation  of  the  command,  '  Thou 
shalt  not  kilV  "  1  know  that  the  cup  is  poisoned — I  know  that  it 
may  cause  his  death — I  know  that  it  may  cause  more  than  death — 
that  it  may  lead  him  to  crime — to  sin — to  the  tortures  of  everlasting 
remorse.  Am  I  not  then  a  murderer?  worse  than  a  murderer?  as 
much  worse  as  the  soul  is  better  than  the  body." 
"If  ardent  spirits  were  nothing  worse  than  a  deadly  poison — if  they 
did  not  excite  and  inflame  all  the  evil  passions — if  they  did  not 
dim  that  heavenly  light,  which  the  Almighty  has  implanted  in  our 
bosoms  to  guide  us  through  the  obscure  passages  of  our  pilgrimage 
— if  they  did  not  quench  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  they  would 
be  comparatively  harmless.  It  is  their  moral  effect — it  is  the  ruin 
of  the  soul  which  they  produce,  that  renders  them  so  dreadful. 
The  difference  between  death  by  simple  poison,  and  death  by  ha- 
bitual intoxication,  may  extend  to  the  whole  difference  between  ev- 
erlasting happiness  and  eternal  death."    (Judge  CrancK's  Address.) 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  99 


O.     (p.  51.) 

From  authentic  documents,  collected  by  the  Rev.  J.  R.  Barbour, 
which  are  soon  to  be  published,  with  remarks, — a  copy  of  which 
ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  every 
church  member  in  the  United  States, — it  appears  that,  from  135 
churches,  more  than  360  persons  have  been  excommunicated  for 
intemperance ;  and  more  than  200  others  for  immoralities  to  which, 
it  is  supposed,  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  led  them.  In  1634  cases 
of  discipline,  more  than  800  of  them  were  for  intemperance  ;  and 
more  than  400  others,  it  is  believed,  from  the  best  information  that 
can  be  obtained,  were  for  immoralities  occasioned  by  the  use  of 
strong  drink.  More  than  seven  eighths  of  all  the  difficulties  in 
churches,  have  probably  resulted  from  this  evil  ;  and  so  long  as 
members  of  churches  use  ardent  spirit,  or  traffic  in  it,  they  are 
instrumental  in  producing  and  perpetuating  these  evils.  This  is  the 
case  with  all  who  are  engaged  in  the  traffic,  whether  members  of 
the  church  or  not.  And  should  they,  for  the  sake  of  gain,  continue 
this  destructive  business,  they  will  not,  when  its  effects  shall  be 
thoroughly  understood,  be  able  to  give  credible  evidence  to  any  one, 
that  they  are  good  men. 

The  following  resolution  has  already  been  adopted  by  the 
General  Convention  of  New  Hampshire,  the  Pastoral  Association, 
and  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  General 
Association  of  Connecticut ;  bodies  embracing  more  than  500 
evangelical  ministers  of  the  gospel  ;  and  it  expresses,  no  doubt,  the 
views  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Christians  and  philanthropic 
men,  in  all  parts  of  our  land : — 

"  As  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  for  persons  in  health,  is  not  only 
needless,  but  hurtful ; — as  it  tends  to  form  intemperate  appetites  and 
■habits ;  and  while  it  is  continued,  the  evils  of  intemperance  can 
never  be  done  away ; — as  it  causes  a  great  portion  of  the  pauperism, 
crimes  and  wretchedness  of  the  community  ;  increases  the  number, 
frequency  and  violence  of  diseases ;  deprives  many  of  reason,  and 
brings  down  multitudes  to  an  untimely  grave ; — as  it  tends  to  pro- 
duce in  the  children  of  those  who  use  it  a  predisposition  to  intem- 
perance, insanity,  and  various  diseases ;  and  to  cause  a  universal 
deterioration  of  both  body  and  mind ; — as  it  tends  to  prevent  the 
efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  all  the  means  which  God  has  provided 
for  the  moral  and  spiritual  illumination  and  purification  of  men,  and 
thus  to  ruin  them  for  both  worlds, — Therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That,  in  our  opinion,  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  as  an 
article  of  luxury  or  diet,  is  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  and  require- 
ments of  the  Christian  religion,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned  through- 
out the  Christian  world. 


100  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

"  And  we  would  express  our  deep  regret,  that,  after  all  the  ligh? 
which,  in  the  course  of  providence,  has  been  thrown  on  this  subject 
by  physicians,  jurists,  philanthropists  and  Christians,  any  sober  man, 
especially  any  member  of  a  Christian  church,  should  be  found  en- 
gaged in  this  destructive  traffic." 

The  Methodist  Quarterly  Conference,  at  the  city  of  Washington, 
March  10,  1831,  adopted  the  following,  viz: — 

"  Believing  the  manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  ardent  spirits  to  be 
unnecessary,  injurious,  and  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  profes- 
sion,— therefore,  resolved,  that  we  will  not  manufacture,  sell  or  use 
ardent  spirits,  and  we  will  do  all  in  our  power  to  discountenance 
the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  them  by  others." 

The  Baltimore  Annual  Conference  say,  "  Being  deeply  convinced 
that  the  manufacture  and  sale,  as  well  as  use,  of  ardent  spirits,  are 
inconsistent  with  the  best  interests  of  the  community,  and  therefore 
incompatible  with  the  Christian  profession  and  character,  we  do 
hereby  express  our  decided  disapprobation  of  our  members  being 
concerned  in  the  distillation  and  traffic  of  ardent  spirits ;  and 
with  these  views  the  members  of  this  Conference  invite  all  our  lay 
brethren  to  get  up  petitions  and  memorials  for  the  next  General 
Conference,  praying  that  respectable  body  to  take  such  measures 
as  they  in  their  wisdom  shall  judge  best,  to  prevent  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  by  the  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  And  we  also  pledge  ourselves  to  aid  such  of  our  lay 
brethren,  in  our  respective  circuits  and  stations,  as  may  attempt  to 
get  up  such  memorials;  and  we  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of 
the  other  Annual  Conferences,  and  our  lay  brethren  throughout  the 
connection,  to  this  important  subject ;  and  request  them  to  adopt 
similar  measures  in  relation  to  it,  that  the  General  Conference  may 
have  before  them  a  full  expression  of  the  sentiments  of  our  people 
on  this  subject,  throughout  the  whole  connection." 

Similar  resolutions  have  been  adopted  by  the  Philadelphia  Con- 
ference, and  various  other  bodies.  And  no  doubt,  if  temperate 
men  do  their  duty,  this  will  soon  be  the  conviction  of  the  whole 
Christian  world.  What  stronger  evidence  can  there  be  that  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit  is  inconsistent  with  the  Christian  religion, 
than  the  facts  which  are  exhibited  in  the  foregoing  Report ! 


P.     (p.  52.) 

The  first  public  meeting  of  the  London  Temperance  Society 
was  held  on  the  29th  of  June.  A  letter  was  read  from  the  Lord 
Mayor,  expressing  his  regret  that  official  engagements  prevented  his 


FOURTH  REPORT 1831. APPENDIX.  101 

attendance  ;  whereupon  Sir  John  Webb,  Director  General  of  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  Ordnance,  was  called  to  preside.  On 
taking  the  chair,  he  mentioned  the  evils  of  spirit-drinking  in  the 
army  and  navy,  and  in  the  community  at  large,  as  they  had  come 
before  him  as  a  magistrate.  Intemperance,  in  his  opinion,  was  the 
cause  of  most  of  the  vices  that  prevailed. 

The  Secretary  then  read  a  Report,  exhibiting  the  principles  of 
the  Society,  and  the  progress  of  temperance  in  America,  and  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland.  In  England,  30  Societies  had  already  been 
formed,  and  100,000  tracts  put  into  circulation. 

The  meeting  was  then  addressed  by  W.  Allen,  Esq.,  the  Solici- 
tor General  of  Ireland,  Rev.  Dr.  J.  P.  Smith,  Professor  Edgar  of 
Belfast,  Rev.  Dr.  Hewit,  of  Connecticut,  Rev.  Dr.  Bennet,  Mr. 
Collins  of  Glasgow,  Mr.  Carre,  of  New  Ross,  Ireland,  the  Bishop 
of  Chester,  and  Rev.  G.  Clayton. 

The  Solicitor  General  of  Ireland,  after  alluding  to  his  official 
connection  with  another  Temperance  Society  (the  Hibernian),  and 
his  devotion  to  the  cause,  proceeded  to  give  his  views  at  length  on 
three  points — the  objects  of  Temperance  Societies — the  necessity 
of  them — and  the  adequacy  of  the  measures  adopted  by  them  to 
secure  their  end. 

"  The  object  of  Temperance  Societies  was  simple  and  single ;  it 
was  but  one.  The  principle  was  so  simple,  that  it  was  amazing  it 
had  escaped  the  skill,  the  ingenuity  and  the  talent  of  so  many  cen- 
turies, and  had  remained  to  be  discovered,  within  the  last  few  years, 
by  a  clergyman  in  one  of  the  Northern  States  of  America.  The 
simple  principle  was,  that  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits  was 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  crimes,  the  misery,  the  poverty,  and 
the  distress  of  mankind  in  the  present  day ;  and  mat  there  was  one 
efficient  remedy  for  the  subjugation  of  that  hostile  principle,  which 
had  been  preying  against  man's  best  interests  for  so  long  a  period 
of  time  ;  namely,  that  it  was  the  bounden  duty  of  all  who  loved 
themselves,  who  loved  their  neighbors,  and  who  venerated  their 
God,  to  abstain  from  ardent  spirits  themselves,  and  by  influence, 
example,  and  authority,  to  discountenance  the  use  of  them  in  others. 
Suppose  ardent  spirits  were  altogether  unknown — suppose  the 
knowledge  of  the  mode  of  distilling  them  was  lost — would  there  not 
be  a  gain  by  the  loss  ?  Oh,  there  would  be  great  losers  by  it ;  all 
the  dram-shops  would  be  shut  up,  the  public  houses  would  be 
closed  ; — but  much  of  the  Sabbath-breaking  would  be  put  an  end  to ; 
much  of  blasphemy  would  be  stopped  ;  much  of  perjury,  swearing, 
assault,  riot,  and  even  murder,  would  be  banished  from  the  land. 
Temperance  Societies  wanted  to  get  rid  of  these  poison  shops  alto- 
gether. That  was  the  object  of  the  present  meeting ;  and  was 
there  any  man,  who  had  the  heart  of  a  man,  that  would  raise  his 
9 


102  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

hand  against  it?  The  language  was,  perhaps,  too  strong,  but  he 
was  about  to  say,  Was  there  any  man  so  cold-blooded,  so  careless, 
so  indifferent  about  the  interests  of  his  neighbor,  as  to  stand  neuter 
when  an  intestine  war  was  waging  between  holy  and  unholy  prin- 
ciples ?  Yet  that  was  the  situation  in  which  these  stood  who  called 
themselves  the  temperate  drinkers  of  the  present  day.  The  sword 
was  drawn,  the  war  was  proclaimed,  temperate  members  of  society 
against  ardent  spirits  ;  and  how  could  these  men  answer  for  it  to 
their  conscience,  who  were  quietly  standing  by  ?  They  were  trai- 
tors to  the  cause.  He  would  enforce  the  Athenian  intestinal  war 
act  against  them,  that,  where  two  parties  were  contending,  the  man 
who  stood  neuter  should  be  put  to  death.  He  begged  permission 
to  give  his  idea  of  a  temperate  man,  because  he  knew  that  legal 
subtleties  had  been  set  up  against  these  institutions.  A  temperate 
man  was  lie  whose  reason  ruled  his  appetite,  and  the  intemperate 
man  was  he  whose  reason  was  ruled  by  his  appetite.  No  man,  in 
his  humble  judgment,  could  be  considered  a  temperate  man,  who, 
to  indulge  his  appetite,  would  do  an  injury  either  to  himself,  or, 
above  all,  to  his  neighbor.  Now,  if  he  were  right  in  that  definition, 
and  if  he  could  show  that  the  man  who  used  ardent  spirits,  in  the 
most  moderate  degree,  was  doing  an  injury  to  his  neighbor,  then 
he  dethroned  him  from  the  situation  in  which  he  had  placed  him- 
self as  a  temperate  man ;  and  the  individual  was,  according  to  the 
true,  logical,  and  philosophical  definition  of  the  word  temperate ,  an 
intemperate  man. 

Let  all  persons  become  subscribers  to  this  institution,  and, 
without  adding  one  shilling  to  their  expenses,  they  would  cut  off  ten 
millions  of  expenditure,  which  they  would  have  in  their  pockets  to 
contribute  to  benevolent  societies.  The  honorable  and  learned  gentle- 
man then  proceeded  to  state,  that  three  fourths  of  the  cases  of  crime, 
of  premature  death,  and  of  lunacy,  and  other  violent  and  distressing 
maladies,  were  occasioned  by  intemperance.  And  he  would  ask, 
whether,  if  there  were  a  person  present  who  would  refuse  to  become 
a  subscriber  to  this  institution,  that  person  were  not  an  accessory  to 
the  commission  of  these  crimes,  and  to  the  procurement  of  these 
ills.  He  would  boldly  state,  that  if  any  person,  after  examining 
the  documents  which  he  should  now  present  to  the  meeting,  could 
coldly  stand  back,  and  say,  "  I  will  not  support  your  Society,  and 
thus  give  to  the  public  the  benefit  of  my  example,"  that  individual 
would  be  chargeable  with  the  guilt  of  an  accessory  to  the  evils 
which  spring  from  this  fruitful  source  of  crime,  disease,  and  death. 
The  honorable  and  learned  gentleman  here  read  the  certificates  to 
which  he  had  referred.  The  first  was  that  of  the  Physician-General 
of  Ireland  ;  the  second  was  signed  by  77  professional  men  of  Ed- 
inburgh ;  he  had  others,  also,  from  Manchester,  Bradford,  and  other 


FOURTH  REPORT. 1831. APPENDIX.  103 

respectable  and  populous  towns.  They  all  reprobated,  m  strong 
terms,  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  as  dangerous  to  the  health  and 
existence  of  those  who  indulged  in  them,  and  recommended  their 
entire  disuse.  These  physicians,  the  honorable  and  learned  gen- 
tleman proceeded,  had  told  the  meeting,  that  out  of  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits  grew  the  direst  maladies  to  which  the  human  frame  is 
subject. 

He  had  been  long  in  the  habit  of  prosecuting  criminals  at  the 
bar  of  justice  in  Ireland,  and  he  could  state  positively,  that  at  least 
three  fourths  of  the  criminals  tried  there,  were  led  on  to  crime  by 
intemperance.  The  greater  part  of  the  crimes  which  were  com- 
mitted in  Ireland,  were  the  results  of  intoxication — of  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits.  He  had  the  sanction  of  all  the  high  authorities  in 
Dublin  to  the  statement,  that  the  disuse  of  ardent  spirits  would  be 
one  of  the  most  effectual  means  of  preventing  crime  there.  And 
would  not  the  same  cause  produce  similar  effects  in  London  ? 

An  individual,  who  has  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  cells  of 
the  condemned,  had  told  him  that  a  condemned  criminal  had  stated, 
that  the  plan  adopted  in  the  commission  of  murder,  was,  to  get  hold 
of  some  man  fond  of  liquor,  and,  having  taken  him  to  a  public 
house,  having  there  made  him  high  in  spirits,  to  reveal  gradually 
the  plan  laid  for  robberv  and  murder,  and  then  to  prevail  on  him 
to  execute  the  fatal  deed.  First,  hints  would  be  thrown  out,  and 
then  more  explicit  statements  would  be  made ;  and  he  who  at  first 
shuddered  at  the  very  thought  of  crime,  would  ultimately  yield  to 
the  effects  of  liquor  and  persuasion,  and  consent  to  do  the  deadly 
act  proposed  to  him." 

Sir  Astley  Cooper,  in  a  letter  which  was  read,  stated,  that  no 
person  had  greater  hostility  to  dram-drinking  than  himself;  inas- 
much as  he  never  suffered  spirits  to  be  in  his  house,  considering 
them  to  be  evil  spirits  ;  and  if  the  poor  could  see  the  white  livers, 
the  dropsies,  and  the  shattered  nervous  systems  which  he  had  seen 
as  the  consequences  of  drinking,  they  would  be  aware  that  sjririts 
and  poisons  are  synonymous  terms.     (Boston  Recorder.) 


q.   (P.  55.) 

The  following  is  the  form  of  agreement  entered  into  by  the  dele- 
gates of  Virginia,  assembled  at  Williamsburg,  August  1,  1774: — 

"  Art.  3d.  Considering  the  article  of  tea  as  the  detestable  instru- 
ment which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  sufferings  of  our 
distressed  friends  in  the  town  of  Boston,  we  view  it  with  horror ; — 
and  therefore, 


104  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  not,  from  this  day,-  import  tea,  of  any 
kind  whatever ;  nor  will  we  use  it,  nor  suffer  such  of  it  as  may  now 
be  on  hand  to  be  used,  in  any  of  our  families." 

And  they  say,  "  that,  in  view  of  the  grievances  and  distresses 
inflicted  by  the  hand  of  power  on  the  people,  they  recommend  their 
association  to  merchants,  traders,  and  others,  hoping  they  will  ac- 
cede to  it  cheerfully."  Their  hopes  were  not  disappointed.  Sim- 
ilar associations  were  formed  throughout  the  land;  and  posterity,  to 
all  future  generations,  will  experience  the  benefit. 

And  says  a  distinguished  civilian,  "  What  have  we  here  ?  An 
association  on  the  principle  of  total  abstinence.  The  men  of  '74, 
it  seems,  were  no  strangers  to  this  wonder-working  principle  ;  and 
they  brought  it  forward  in  aid  of  one  of  the  noblest  causes  that 
ever  attracted  the  admiration  and  sympathies  of  the  world.  The 
Virginia  delegates  looked  upon  tea,  with  its  slavish  appendage, 
'  with  horror.'  So  do  we,  I  hope,  look  with  equal  horror  upon  rum, 
with  the  slavery  annexed  to  that.  They  resolve  to  abstain  from 
tea,  and  invite  all  others  to  do  the  same.  We,  in  our  turn,  abstain 
from  rum,  and  entreat  all  others  to  do  the  same.  What  was  the 
slavery  of  drinking  tea,  in  comparison  with  the  slavery  occasioned 
by  rum-drinking,  with  all  the  abominations  unutterable  it  brings  on 
the  bodies  and  souls  of  men  !  Why,  then,  are  not  bonds  for  total 
abstinence  from  rum,  in  1S31,  as  necessary  and  proper  as  the  same 
bonds  to  abstain  from  tea,  in  1774?  Did  the  men  of  '74  and  '7G 
drive  too  fast,  or  carry  matters  to  an  extreme  ?  We  answer,  No. 
We  all  unitedly  commend  their  wisdom,  energy,  and  self-denial. 
With  these  they  gained  our  independence.  How  is  it,  then,  that 
Temperance  Societies  drive  too  fast  ?  As  tea  was  once  detested 
because  it  was  the  instrument  that  brought  so  much  distress  on  our 
citizens,  we  would  call  upon  all  moderate  drinkers  to  detest  ardent 
spirit,  and  let  it  alone ;  and  would  entreat  them  to  have  com- 
passion for  the  distresses  of  their  miserable  fellow  creatures,  who 
are  consuming  away  in  the  fires  of  intemperance." 

And  if  the  men,  who,  in  '76,  continued  to  ttaffic  in  tea,  were 
viewed  as  traitors,  aiding  and  abetting  in  the  oppression  of  their 
country,  how  ought  the  men  to  be  viewed  who  continue,  now, 
to  traffic  in  rum  9  Are  they  not  aiding  in  the  promotion  of  intem- 
perance and  all  its  abominations?  And  will  they  not  be  held. re- 
sponsible at  the  divine  tribunal  ?  Judge  ye,  and  in  such  a  manner 
that  your  judgment  will  not  be  reversed  in  the  day  of  final  decision. 


FIFTH    REPORT 


A31ERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 


By  the  facts  presented  in  the  Fourth  Report  of  this  Society,  the 
following  truths  are  established,  viz. 

1.  Ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  is  not  needful. 

2.  It  is  not  useful. 

3.  It  is  a  poison  which  injures  both  the  body  and  the  mind. 
And  this  results  not  merely  from  the  great  and  increasing  quantity 
of  the  liquor  which  may  be  taken,  but  from  the  kind.  It  is  a  liquor 
which  is  injurious  in  its  nature,  and  which  cannot  betaken  without 
harm. 

4.  It  impairs,  and  often  destroys  reason. 

5.  It  lessens  the  power  of  motives  to  do  right. 

6.  It  strengthens  the  power  of  motives  to  do  wrong. 

7.  It  tends  to  bring  all  who  use  it  to  a  premature  grave ; 
and  usher  those  who  understand  its  nature  and  effects,  and  yet 
continue  to  drink  it,  or  to  furnish  it  as  a  drink  for  others,  into  a 
miserable  eternity. 

From  these  truths,  all  of  which  are  established  by  numerous 
and  in  Jubitable  facts,  it  follows  that  to  use  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink, 
to  manufacture,  buy,  sell,  or  in  any  way  furnish  it  as  a  drink  for 
others,  is  a  sin  ;  and  in  magnitude  equal  to  all  the  evils,  temporal 
and  eternal,  which  it  tends  to  produce.  He  who  has  the  means  of 
understanding  its  nature  and  effects,  and  yet  continues  to  use  it,  or 
to  furnish  it,  will  at  the  divine  tribunal,  and  ought  at  the  bar  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  to  be  held  responsible  for  its  effects.  For  the  pauper- 
ism, crime,  sickness,  insanity,  wretchedness  and  death,  which  he 
occasions,  he  is  responsible.  "  In  the  vice  of  drunkenness,"  says 
a  distinguished  member  of  Congress,*  "  as  indeed  in  every 
other,  the  man  who  holds  out  the  temptation  to  it,  is  the  chief 
transgressor.  The  weak  mortal  who  is  sunken  by  intemperance 
to  the  level  of  the  brute,  is  a  victim  to  the  avarice  of  the  man  who 
can  calmly  look  upon  him,  and  continue  for  cents  and  sixpences  to 
sell  him  the  dreadful  poison."   And  says  an  eminent  writer,  "Words 

*  Hon.  James  M.  Wayne. 
9* 


2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [112 

cannot  express  the  guilt  of  those  individuals  who  are  now  engaged, 
in  any  way,  in  manufacturing  or  vending  ardent  spirits."  Such 
ought  to  be,  and  as  light  prevails,  such  will  be,  the  sentiment  of 
the  whole  community.  The  men  who  furnish  the  means^  and 
present  the  temptation  for  the  making  of  drunkards,  are  partakers 
in  their  guilt,  and  ripening  for  their  awful  retribution.  They  are 
exerting  an  influence  which  is  hostile  to  the  holiness  and  happiness 
of  the  community;  and  which  tends  strongly  to  the  destruction  of 
man  for  both  worlds. 

To  illustrate  these  truths,  and  impress  them  on  the  hearts  of  all, 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance  Society 
have,  through  the  divine  kindness,  continued  their  operations  dur- 
ing another  year.  The  last  Report,  which  contains  the  history  of 
this  Society,  and  of  its  operations  from  its  commencement,  and  aiso 
the  reasons  why  its  great  principles  should  be  extended  through  the 
world,  was  stereotyped  ;  and  ten  thousand  copies  have  been  printed. 

It  has  been  circulated  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States, 
and  copies  have  been  sent  to  Canada,  New  Brunswick,  and  Nova- 
Scotia  ;  to  Mexico  and  South  America ;  to  England,  Ireland,  Scot- 
land, Denmark,  Sweden,  Russia,  Germany,  Malta,  Palestine,  Tur- 
key, Bombay,  Ceylon,  Burmah,  China,  Liberia,  and  the  Sandwich 
Islands ;  and  the  committee  have  abundant  assurances  that  it  has 
been  productive  of  great  good.  It  has  been  received  with  special 
approbation,  and  has  produced  powerful  effects.  While  reading  it, 
the  nun  drinker  has  resolved  no  longer  to  use  the  poison,  and  the 
rum  seller  no  longer  to  poison  his  fellow  men  ;  the  man  who  had 
renounced  the  use  of  it  and  the  traffic  in  it,  and  thought  that  that  was 
enough,  has  resolved,  while  reading  it,  to  unite  with  others  in  a 
Temperance  Society,  and  to  do  good  as  he  has  opportunity  to  all; 
because  he  has  felt,  that  to  him  that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth 
it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin.  Those  who  had  before  united  with  societies 
have  been  excited  to  new  and  more  vigorous  exertions,  and  thus 
the  number  and  influence  of  such  societies  have  been  greatly  in- 
creased. The  conviction  is  extending,  that  all  men  are  under  sacred 
obligations  to  aid  in  this  cause,  and  to  continue  their  efforts  till  in- 
temperance is  done  away.  It  is  seen  that  short  enlistments  will  not 
answer  the  purpose ;  and  increasing  numbers  are  engaging  to 
serve  during  the  war.  An  old  man  of  more  than  fourscore  years, 
afflicted  with  a  bodily  infirmity,  for  which  he  had  been  advised  by 
a  physician  to  use  ardent  spirit  as  a  medicine,  was  presented 
with  a  constitution  of  a  Temperance  Society  on  the  plan  of  absti- 
nence. He  read  it,  and  said,  "That  is  the  thing  to  save  our 
country  ;  I  will  join  it."  "  No,"  said  one,  "  you  must  not  join  it, 
because  ardent  spirit  is  necessary  for  you,  as  a  medicine."  "  I 
know,"  said  he,  "that  I  have  used  it,  but  if  something  is  not  done, 
our  country  will  be  ruined  ;  and  I  will  not  be  accessary  to  the  ruin 


113]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  5 

of  my  country.  I  will  join  the  Society."  "  Then,"  said  another, 
"you  will  die."  Well,"  said  the  old  man,  in  the  true  spirit  of  '76, 
*' Tor  my  country,  I  can  die;"  and  signed  the  constitution;  gave 
lip  his  medicine,  and  his  disease  fled  rway.  It  was  the  remedy 
that  kept  up  the  disease ;  and  when  he  had  renounced  the  one, 
he  was  relieved  of  the  other.  So  it  probably  would  be,  in  nine 
cases  out  of  ten  where  this  poison  is  used  as  a  medicine.  It  tends 
to  perpetuate  and  aggravates  disease,  till  it  ends  in  death ;  and 
often  does  it  render  that  which  would  otherwise  be  slight  and 
temporary,  permanent  and  fatal.  Another  old  man,  once  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  State  in  which  he  lives,  who  had  long  been  afflicted 
with  a  disease  for  which  ardent  spirit  had  been  prescribed  as  a  re- 
medy, at  a  temperance  meeting,  said, 

"  Friends  and  neighbors  :  i  am  now  more  than  seventy  years 
of  age.  You  all  know  my  state  of  health.  I  have  been  trying  an 
experiment  for  two  months  past  in  abstaining  from  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirits,  which  affords  me  much  relief  from  the  great  distress 
I  at  times  experience.  My  suffering  has  been  great,  but  less  than 
i  feared.  In  the  war  of  the  revolution,  1  commanded  a  company 
of  militia  in  this  state.  At  the  approach  of  the  enemy  to  Benning- 
ton, I  had  just  recovered  from  a  fever  that  had  confined  me  to 
my  bed  for  many  days.  I  had  not  then  left  my  room.  The 
alarm  was  given,  the  militia  called  out ;  and  I,  in  opposition  to  the 
entreaties  and  expostulations  of  my  friends,  marched  at  the  head 
of  my  company  for  Bennington.  In  our  march  we  had  to  ford  a 
river  ;  a  sturdy  soldier  shouldered  and  carried  me  over  on  his 
back.  We  met  the  enemy, — fought — conquered, — and  returned 
in  safety  to  our  families.  I  thus  put  my  life  in  jeopardy  to  aid  in 
serving  my  country,  and  I  am  willing  to  do  it  again.  An  enemy 
more  powerful  and  subtle  than  the  British,  is  destroying  our  fire- 
sides, and  trampling  with  iron  hcofs  the  fairest  portions  of  our  land. 
I  present  myself  to  join  your  ranks  in  this  war  of  extermination, 
and  enlist  under  your  banner,  bearing  the  motto  Total  Absti- 
nence. This  step  will  no  doubt  shorten  my  days.  Be  it  so  ;  1 
stand  ready  to  sacrifice  my  life  in  the  cause,  and  I  fieely  subscribe 
your  pledge,  totally  and  forever  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits." 

We  are  happy  in  the  expectation  that  the  life  of  this  venerable 
patriot,  instead  of  being  shortened,  as  he  expected  by  joining  the 
Temperance  Society,  will  probably  be  prolonged  a  number  of 
years.  And  if  it  should  not,  his  comfort  on  the  whole,  and  his 
usefulness  will  no  doubt  be  greatly  increased,  by  all  his  disinterest- 
ed sacrifices  for  the  good  of  others. 

Some  friend,  your  committee  are  informed,  sent  to  the  first  of 
these  men  a  copy  of  your  last  Report ;  and  he  has  read  it  through 
six  times ;  says  that  he  will  have  it  bound,  laid  up  by  the  side  of 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [114 

his  Bible,  and  keep  it  til!  he  die?.  No  book  of  the  size,  he  thinks, 
will  do  greater  good  to  the  countiy. 

"  This  Report,  says  a  judicious  writer,  contains  a  detailed  and 
faithful  history  of  one  of  the  greatest  changes  which  was  ever  ef- 
fected in  the  condition  of  the  human  race.  The  Temperance 
Reformation  will  form  a  most  important  chapter  in  the  history  of 
navigation  and  commerce,  of  political  economy  and  morals,  of 
manners  and  fashions,  and  of  the  christian  religion.  There  is  reason 
to  believe  that  a  great  proportion  of  the  youth  and  children  in  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  young  men  under  thirty  years  of  age, 
are  acting  on  the  temperance  principle.  Those  who  drink,  and 
those  who  vend  or  manufacture  the  poison,  are  generally  over  thir- 
ty years  of  age.  Their  bodies  will  soon  fall  in  the  wilderness 
where  they  have  tempted  God  and  their  fellow  men  ;  a  new  genera- 
tion wiio  have  not  been  slaves  in  Egypt,  will  rise  up  and  enter  a  land 
flowing  with  what  is  better  than  milk  and  honey.  A  vision  of  glo- 
ry and  beauty,  such  as  the  dying  legislator  of  Israel  did  not  see 
from  the  top  of  Pisgah,  opens  to  the  eye  of  the  philanthropist  and 
christian  of  this  country.  We  would  recommend  the  Report  of 
the  Temperance  Society,  with  all  the  earnestness  in  our  power. 
We  wish  it  could  be  circulated  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  It 
contains  facts  and  reasonings  which  are  absolutely  irresistible. 
It  is  precisely  the  pamphlet  which  was  wanted.  Why  will  not 
every  temperance  society  in  the  land  supply  all  their  members 
with  a  copy  ?"  * 

A  distinguished  gentleman  from  the  city  of  Washington,  writes, 
"  The  Fourth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  seems 
to  receive  the  universal  approbation  of  all  sects  and  parties,  as  a 
paper  most  able  and  judicious.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  supply  of 
a  copy  to  each  family  in  the  United  States,  would  do  very  much 
toward  accomplishing  the  great  object  for  which  it.  is  designed, 
the  removal  of  intemperance  from  the  country."  After  saying  that 
a  copy  had  been  presented  to  each  member  of  congress,  and  that 
its  good  effects  had  been  manifested  in  the  great  temperance  meet- 
ing which  had  been  held  in  the  capitol,  he  adds,  "  The  strong  and 
steady  march  of  the  temperance  cause  in  this  region,  and  at  the 
South,  and  West,  is  obvious  and  unequivocal.  That  the  great 
principles  of  the  Reformation  are  every  where  gaining  ground, 
and  that  public  sentiment  is  every  day  rising  in  its  demands,  and 
that  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  ardent  spirits  are  daily 
becoming  more  and  more  disgraceful,  is  most  unquestioaably  true. 
And  if  all  christians  and  sober  men  will  do  their  duty,  fear- 
lessly and  perseveringly,  I  am  sure  our  country  will  be  purified." 
This  sentiment  deserves  to  be  written  in  letters  of  go  d.     It  is  the 

*  Journal  of  Education,  Vol.  iv.  No.  '2.  p.  143. 


115]  FIFTH    REPOKT. 1832.  5 

hinge  on  which  the  Temperance  Reformation,  with  all  its  inesti- 
mable benefits,  now  turns.  "  If  christians  and  sober  men  will  do 
their  duty,  fearlessly  and  perscveringly,  our  country  will  be  puri- 
fied.'''' How  momentous  then  is  their  duty  ;  and,  how  overwhelm- 
ing will  be  their  guilt,  if  they  do  not  perform  it.  "The  meeting 
at  the  capitol,"  the  writer  adds,  "  will  do  great  good,  and  in  a  thou- 
sand ways.  Temperance  publications  have  been  working  their 
way,  and  hardly  a  day  passes  but  brings  new  evidence  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  cause  in  this  city  and  neighborhood." 

Similar  testimonies  have  been  received  from  various  other  parts 
of  the  country.  Friends  of  temperance,  in  many  places,  have  put 
a  copy  of  the  Report  into  every  family.  In  other  cases  benevo- 
lent individuals  have  visited  various  towns  in  a  county,  delivered 
addresses,  or  read  extracts  from  the  Report,  and  at  the  close  of 
meetings  proposed  a  subscription,  and  thus  procured  for  it  a  gen- 
eral circulation.  Parents  have  often  taken  copies  for  their  child- 
ren ;  and  could  each  child  in  the  United  States,  have  one  for  his 
own,  and  become  acquainted  with  its  principles  and  facts,  your 
committee  cannot  but  think,  with  the  writer  above  referred  to,  that 
it  would  do  very  much  for  the  salvation  of  the  country.  Those 
facts  are  so  various  and  strong,  so  numerous  and  decisive,  that  it 
appears  to  be  hardly  possible  for  any  one,  not  abandoned  to  hard- 
ness of  heart  and  blindness  of  mind,  to  become  acquainted  with 
them,  in  their  various  bearings,  connexions,  and  consequences, 
and  not  be  deeply  and  permanently  affected  by  them.  Many  a 
man  who,  by  reformation,  has  been  saved  from  the  drunkard's 
grave,  may  say,  "  Had  I  known  when  I  was  young  what  I  know 
now,  1  might  always  have  been  a  sober  man  ;  have  been  saved 
from  wretchedness  unspeakable,  and  my  family  been  saved  from 
ruin."  And  many  a  man,  now  in  the  drunkard's  grave  and  in  the 
drunkard's  eternity,  had  he  known  in  youth,  what  every  child  in 
the  United  States  may  know  now,  and  acted  accordingly,  might 
have  been  in  glory,  singing  the  song  of  Moses,  and  the  song  of 
the  Lamb.  Had  the  facts  contained  in  that  Report  been  known 
to  every  child  in  our  land  fifty  years  ago,  and  duly  regarded,  mor^ 
than  half  a  million  of  men  had  been  saved  from  the  drunkard'^ 
grave  ;  more  than  five  millions  from  the  living  death  of  drunker: 
relatives  and  friends  ;  and  one  of  the  sorest,  foulest  calamities 
which  has  ever  afflicted  humanity  had  been  prevented.  And 
as  the  Report  is  adapted  to  be  a  permanent  document,  and  tilt 
drunkenness  has  ceased,  its  principles,  (acts,  and  reasonings  will  be 
as  important  as  they  are  now, — the  committee  cannot  but  unite  in 
the  desires  expressed  by  many  in  this  and  other  countries,  that  it 
may  have  a  universal  circulation.  They  rejoice  to  learn  that  an 
abstract  of  it,  in  an  edition  of  ten  thousand  copies,  has  been  pub- 
lished  in  the  state  of  North  Carolina,  and   that  the  whole  Report 


0  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [116- 

has  been  republished  in  Great  Britain,  and  large  portions  of  it  in 
numerous  publications,  in  this,  and  other  countries.  It  is  spoken 
of.  in  the  English  papers,  as  "one  of  the  most  cheering  and  extra- 
ordinary documents  which  has  ever  appeared,  in  any  age  or  coun- 
try." "  It  would  seem,  they  say,  as  if  Great  Britain  were  follow- 
ing, in  some  humble  measure,  the  noble  example  of  our  transat- 
lantic brethren — and  the  provinces  are  rising  up,  en  masse,  in  fa- 
vor of  Temperance  Societies." 

The  editor  of  the  English  Temperance  Magazine  and  Review 
says,  "  We  have  before  us  the  Fourth  Report  of  the  American 
Temperance  Society  ;  and  certainly,  it  has  seldom  fallen  to  our 
lot  to  peruse  a  more  important  and  deeply  interesting  publication. 
We  look  at  the  facts  which  it  adduces,  and  the  results  which  it  ex- 
hibits of  exertions  made  in  the  cause  of  Temperance,  and  we  are 
compelled,  on  a  careful  examination,  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  enemy  of  Temperance  Societies  is  the  enemy  of  man.  He 
may  be  so  ignorant  ly  ;  he  may  be  so  unwittingly;  he  may  be  so 
under  the  impression  that  Temperance  Societies  are  the  fruit  of 
enthusiasm,  and  that  there  is  no  harm  in  drinking  a  little  ;  still  we 
repeat  it,  he  is  the  enemy  of  man  ;  and  he  is  an  opponent  of  one 
of  the  grandest  practical  schemes  which  has  ever  been  devised  for 
the  promotion  of  human  comfort  and  happiness." 

"  The  Lord  Chancellor  from  his  place  on  the  wool-sack  denoun- 
ced gin-drinking  as  an  evil  so  extensive  that  if  any  thing  could  pre- 
vail on  bin)  to  abandon  his  principles  of  free  trade,  it  would  be 
the  desire  to  put  down  the  free  trade  in  ardent  spirit.  We  can- 
not help  thinking  that  the  old  world  is  under  deep  obligation  to 
America  for  the  developement  of  the  principles  of  Temperance 
Societies ;  and  now  that  they  have  been  introduced  and  with  suc- 
cess into  Great  Britain,  we  trust  that  we  shall  not  be  slack,  as 
Englishmen,  in  acknowledging  our  obligations.  We  know  that 
there  has  been  a  feeling  in  this  country  against  every  thing  Ameri- 
can, but  we  trust  and  believe  that  that  day  has  gone  by,  never  to  re- 
turn. Let  us  emulate  them  in  this  good  work,  and  may  the  alac- 
rity  with  whirl)  we  follow  in  their  footsteps  excite  them  to  persevere 
til!  the  cope-stone  of  the  building  is  brought  forth  with  joy.  We 
warmly  recommend  this  Report  to  any  individual  who  wishes  to 
be  correctly  informed  on  the  subject  on  which  it  treats.  To 
Temperance  Societies  and  the  friends  of  temperance  it  cannot  fail 
of  proving  highly  interesting;  and  if  they  peruse  it  with  the  same 
feelings  which  we  have  done,  they  will  rise  from  the  perusal  more 
firmly  determined  than  ever,  to  go  on  with  the  work  which  they 
have  begun,  and  in  the  strength  of  God,  not  to  give  in,  till  death 
sounds  the  retreat." 

The  Temperance  Society  Record,  printed  at  Glasgow  in  Scot- 
land, says,  "  It  is  a  work  which  will  be  read  with  deep  interest  by 


U7J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1  S32.  ? 

those  who  rejoice  in  seeing  suffering  humanity  delivered  from  such 
a  desolating  scourge ;  and  its  numerous  facts  and  solemn  appeals 
cannot  fail  to  produce  in  the  minds  of  those  who  give  it  an  atten- 
tive perusal  sentiments  favorable  to  Temperance  Societies." 

A  gentleman  writes  from  the  island  of  Malta,  "  The  Fourth 
Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  is  doing  great  good 
here.  One  of  the  Judges  to  whom  I  lent  it  is  delighted  with  it." 
Another  gentleman  says,  "  Give  to  that  Report  a  universal  circu- 
lation, and  it  will  accomplish  the  object.  The  facts  and  reasoning 
cannot  be  resisted." 

In  June  last,  through  the  distinguished  liberality  of  a  friend  of 
this  cause,  our  late  agent  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hewit  visited  England. 
He  was  received  with  great  kindness,  and  his  labors  were  crown- 
ed with  signal  success.  A  meeting  in  London,  of  the  friends  of 
Temperance,  was  appointed  previous  to  his  arrival,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  forming  a  London  Temperance  Society.  That  meeting 
he  was  enabled  to  attend ;  and  his  communications  added  greatly 
to  the  interest  of  the  occasion.  Persons  were  present  not  only 
from  the  metropolis,  but  from  various  parts  of  England,  Ireland, 
and  Scotland,  and  a  London  Temperance  Society  was  formed. 
The  impression  was  so  strong,  the  need  and  practicability  of  a 
Temperance  Reform  so  obvious,  and  the  benefits,  which,  should 
it  become  universal,  it  would  confer  on  the  world,  were  so  numer- 
ous and  important,  that  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  by  the  desire  of 
Dr.  Hewit  and  others  they  enlarged  the  object  of  the  society  and 
also  its  name.  "The  London  Temperance  Society"  was  chang- 
ed to  the  "British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society  "  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  its  blessings  throughout  the  kingdom  and 
throughout  the  world.  Should  they  continue  to  act  in  accordance 
with  their  high  privileges,  their  great  responsibility  and  their  dis- 
tinguished name,  and  with  the  success,  which,  through  the  divine 
kindness,  may  be  expected  in  that  case  to  attend  their  exertions, 
this  event  will  form  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  Temperance  Re- 
formation. In  addition  to  other  efficient  measures,  the  friends  of 
the  object  have  established  in  London  two  monthly  periodicals,  viz 
The  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Herald,  27,000  copies  of 
which  have  been  published,  and  the  Temperance  Magazine  and 
Review.  One  is  a  dudecimo,  and  the  other  an  octavo,  and  both 
are  to  be  devoted  to  this  great  cause :  there  are  also  two  monthly 
publications,  viz.  The  Temperance  Society  Record,  published  in 
Scotland  ;  and  the  Temperance  Advocate,  published  in  Ireland  ; 
besides  various  other  publications  of  different  forms,  devoted  to 
this  object  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom.     The  number  or 


8  amehican  tempt-Kance  soctZTV.  [118> 

copies  which  have  been  published   dining  the  year  amounts  to 
more  than  a  million. 

Mr.  Carr,  of  Ireland,  and  Mr.  Cruikshank,  of  Scotland,  have 
been  employed  as  agents;  more  than  two  hundred  meetings  have 
been  held,  and  numerous  Temperance  Societies  formed  hi  various 
parts  of  the  kingdom.  More  than  a  hundred  thousand  are  now 
embodied  in  Great  Britain,  on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit ;  and  among  them  are  400  veteran  British 
seamen,  inmates  of  Greenwich  Hospital,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
distinguished  naval  officers  who  govern  that  institution. 

Dr.  Hevvit  also  visited  France,  and  would  have  gone  to  Ireland 
and  Scotland  had  not  providential  afflictions  in  his  family  hastened 
his  return.*  But  although  his  stay  was  shorter  than  was  desired 
by  the  friends  of  Temperance,  both  in  this  country  and  in  Eng- 
land, we  would  gratefully  acknowledge  the  kindness  of  Providence 
in  his  preservation,  and  in  the  good  which  he  was  enabled  to  ac- 
complish ;  and  indulge  the  hope  that  the'  benefits  will  be  felt  to 
all  future  time. 

We  view  it  as  a  great  favor,  and  hail  it  as  a  token  for 
good,  that  a  system  of  effort  to  abolish  the  use  of  ardent  spirit, 
and  the  traffic  in  it,  was  devised  and  adopted  previously  to  the  ap- 
pearance in  Europe  of  that  direful  malady  the  Cholera,  nine  tenths 
of  whose  victims  are  those  who  indulge  in  strong  drink.  And  we 
hope  that  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the  men  who  use  ardent 
spirit,  and  especially  the  men  who  furnish  it  for  the  use  of  others, 
are  inviting  the  ravages,  and  preparing  the  victims  of  that  fatal  dis- 
ease. Nor  will  they  be  guiltless,  should  it  never  visit  the  places 
in  which  they  live  ;  for  other  diseases  in  great  numbers,  and  with 
multitudes  equally  fatal,  are  infallibly  produced  by  it.  In  one  ol 
our  cities,  half  the  men  over  18  years  of  age,  who  died  in  1828,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  the  physicians,  were  killed  by  it. 
And  those  physicians,  remark,  "  When  we  recollect  that  even  the 
(rmperate  use,  as  it  is  called,  of  ardent  spirits  lays  the  foundation 
of  a  numerous  train  of  incurable  maladies,  we  feel  justified  in 
expressing  the  belief,  that  were  the  use  of  distilled  liquors  entirely 
discontinued,  the  number  of  deaths  among  the  male  adults  would 
fce  diminished  in  our  city  at  least  one  half."  What  would  be 
thought  of  the  men  who,  for  the  sake  of  money,  should  directly 
sell  disease  ?  would  it  not  be  viewed  as  an  immorality  of  a  high 
and  aggravated  character  ;  as  a  sin,  continuance  in  which  would 
be  utterly  inconsistent  with  christian  character  ?  and  is  it  not  as 
really  immoral,  as  really  a  crime,  to  sell  the  known  cause  of  dis- 
ease, as  it  would  be  to  sell  disease  itself?     What  would  be  thought 

*  Rebecca  Hewit,  daughter  of  Rev.  Nathaniel  Hewit,  D.  D.,  died  at  New  Ha- 
ven, Conn.,  July  30th,  1831. 


I19j  FIFTH    REPORT.-— 1832,  ,  9 

of  the  man  who  should  knowingly  and  deliherately  sell  death  J 
and  in  such  quantity  as  to  double  the  tenants  of  the  grave-yard  ? 
What  ought  to  be  thought  of  him  ?  And  is  it  not  as  really  wicked 
for  men  to  sell  the  known  cause  of  death ;  and  when  survivors 
raise,  in  loud  and  solemn  tone,  the  note  of  remonstrance,  are  they 
to  be  put  off,  with  the  supremely  contemptible  reply,  If  we  should 
not  sell  this,  we  could  not  sell  so  many  other  things  ?- — or,  we  must 
change  our  business? — or,  we  could  not  support  our  families? — or, 
if  we  do  not  do  it,  somebody  else  will  ?  Suppose  somebody  would 
import  plague,  if  you  should  not ;  and  in  that  case  could  sell  more  of 
some  kinds  of  goods,  which  he  had  on  hand,  than  if  he  did  not ;  and 
should  give  this  as  the  reason  why  he  must  do  it;  would  that  screen 
you  from  the  indignation  of  a  suffering  community,  or  the  retributions 
of  a  righteous  God,  if  for  a  similar  reason  you  should  do  it  ?  What 
would  be  thought  of  an  apothecary  who  should  import  pestilence,  or 
wake  up  fever,  because  if  he  did  not  do  it,  he  could  not  sell  so  ma- 
ny medicines,  and  perhaps  must  change  his  business?  What  would 
be  thought  of  the  merchant  who  should  do  this  in  order  to  sell  a 
greater  quantity  of  mourning  apparel.  Suppose  an  apothecary,  in- 
stead  of  being  confined  to  one  branch  of  business,  sells  both  drugs 
and  cloths  ;  and  also  sells  indiscriminately,  to  all  who  will  buy 
arsenic  or  opium  ;  though  he  knows  that  it  kills  men  by  thousands. 
And  when  an  injured  community  rise  up  and  remonstrate,  array 
against  him  the  tears  of  widows,  and  the  groans  of  orphans,  he 
says,  "  If  I  should  not  sell  arsenic  I  could  not  sell  so  many  grave- 
clothes  ;  and  as  my  family  depend  upon  my  business  for  a  living, 
[  must  destroy  other  families,  to  support  my  own."  And  sup- 
pose it  were  told  in  heaven,  that  such  a  man  professed  to  be  a 
friend  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  he  cried  daily,  "  Glory 
to  God  in  the  highest,  good  will  to  men,"  would  they  not  quake 
in  view  of  the  indignation,  and  wrath,  and  tribulation,  and  anguish 
which  would  fasten  upon  him,  when  the  earth  discloses  her  blood, 
and  no  more  covers  her  slain ;  but  the  God  of  the  widow, 
and  the  father  of  the  fatherless  proclaims  in  actions,  "  Vengeance 
is  mine  ;  I  will  repay,  saith  Jehovah  ?  " 

When  the  nature  of  this  business  is  duly  considered  and  its  in- 
variable effects  ;  when  its  consequences  are  viewed  in  the  light  of 
eternity,  we  cannot  but  think  that  every  man  who  has  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ  will  renounce  it,  as  a  business  at  war  with  Jehovah, 
and  with  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of  men.  The  ides 
of  making  property  by  a  business  so  destructive,  is  revolting 
even  to  humanity,  and  will  ere  long  be  reprobated  as  a  high-hand- 
ed offence  throughout  the  world.  Says  an  eminent  European 
writer,*  "  The  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  is  deservedly  considered 

*  Professor  Edgar. 


10  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [120 

the  glory  of  modern  time?  ;  yet  neither  in  the  evils  to  be  removed, 
in  the  opposition  of  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  or  in  the  amount 
of  good  done,  is  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  to  be  once  named 
in  comparison  of  the  Temperance  Reformation." 

And,  says  another  distinguished  writer,*  "  Hard  must  be  the 
heart  that  bleeds  not,  cruel  indeed  the  nature  that  weeps  not, 
while  surveying  the  emaciation  of  body,  the  bloated  ghaslliness  of 
countenance,  the  paralization  of  nerve,  the  poverty,  and  conse- 
ntient meanness,  that  slowly,  it  may  be,  yet  surely  creeps  on  their 
constant  customers ;  and  their  consciences  must  be  callous  indeed 
if  they  permit  them  without  loud,  tormenting,  and  reiterated  accu- 
sation, without  awful  forebodings  of  future  retribution,  and  fearful 
lookings  for  of  fiery  indignation,  daily  to  observe,  and  hourly  to 
promote  in  their  victims,  the  gradual  prostration  of  intellect,  the 
destruction  of  honor,  th.:-  obliteration  of  shame,  the  forgetfulness 
of  religious  obligation  and  even  of  common  honesty,  the  loss  of  de- 
licate feeling,  the  withering  of  reputation,  the  insensibility  to  char- 
acter :  in  a  word,  the  destruction  of  the  men,  and  their  transfor- 
mation, first  into  brutes,  and  then  into  fiends,  which  is  the  con- 
stant and  palpable  effect  produced  in  their  hell-assisting  manufac- 
tories. 

"  Every  man,  as  a  patriot,  is  bound  to  employ  himself  in  a 
manner  that  will  promote  the  welfare  of  his  country ;  but  I  assert, 
without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  the  spirit  trade  is  the 
greatest  bane  to  our  country,  but  especially  to  its  poor,  that  at  pre- 
sent does,  or  probably  ever  did  exist :  it  kills  more  people  than 
any  war  in  which  we  ever  were  engaged  :  it  destroys  more  of  the 
industry  and  consequent  wealth  of  our  country  than  all  the  other 
evils  under  which  we  labour  ;  and  as  it  respects  crime,  it  may  be 
called  Legion,  for  it  either  embodies  in  itself,  or  drags  in  its  hag- 
gard and  desolating  train,  every  abomination  which  is  tarnishing 
the  fair  page  of  our  history,  and  blasting  our  yet  lofty  national 
character ;  in  the  dens  of  intemperance  almost  every  crime  is  de- 
vised ;  by  the  brutifying  stimulus  of  intoxicating  liquor  almost 
every  crime  is  perpetrated ;  and,  oh  !  you  who  are  employed  in 
spreading  liquid  madness,  with  its  attendants,  misery,  blasphemy, 
and  iniquity,  tremble  while  you  hear  it, — by  your  agency  our 
age  and  nation  groans  under  the  shameful  burden  of  such  cruel 
monstrosities,  of  such  heartless  and  mercenary  murders,  as  have 
been  perpetrated  by  a  Burke,  a  Hare,  a  Bishop,  a  Williams,  a 
Stewart,  the  Gilmerton  Carters,  and  others  of  infamous  memory  : 
while,  through  the  preparation  of  liquid  fire,  some  of  you  are  exalt- 
ed to  roli  along  in  your  carriages,  and  by  your  boastful  mottos  insult 

*  Cruikshatk's  Address  on  the  spirit  trade,  British  Temperance  Magazine  and 
Review,  p.  103. 


121 J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  11 

your  dupes  by  telling,  that.  '  Gin  hath  bought  it :  who  could  hav<; 
thought  it?'  By  spreading  die  fiery  stream,  and  heaping  fuel  on 
the  destructive  conflagration,  many  more  are  wallowing  in  almost 
princely  affluence  ;  while  the  victims  of  your  trade,  their  wives, 
and  children,  are  covered  with  rags  and  drenched  in  misery.  1 
would  affectionately  beseech  such  to  examine  the  source  whence 
their  riches  flow.  I  would  beg  of  them  to  consult  their  con- 
sciences, which  will  inform  them  that  their  ornaments  are  purchas- 
ed at  the  expense  of  misery  to  their  customers,  their  superfluous 
finery  deprives  the  others  of  necessary  clothing,  their  ease,  volup- 
tuousness, and  splendor  are  supported  by  inflicting  acute  pains, 
wasting  diseases,  excruciating  torments,  madness,  despair,  and 
death  ;  on  whom  ?  on  the  enemies  of  their  country  ?  on  strangers 
or  foreigners  ? — even  this  would  be  cruel;  hut  no  !  their  victims 
are  their  friends,  relations,  neighbors,  and  fellow  countrymen.  1 
would  conjure  them,  therefore,  by  the  latent  spark  of  manly  feel- 
ing that  yet  warms  their  breast,  by  the  stragglings  of  that  feeling 
against  sordid  interest,  by  their  yet  remaining  patriotism,  to  aban- 
don the  accursed  trade,  and  attend  to  their  interest  for  time  and 
for  eternity,  by  turning  to  the  Lord's  side." 

And  says  a  distinguished  civilian  in  our  own  country,*  "  ll  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  oi '  our 
citizens,  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as 
speedily  as  possible." — "  Convince  the  men  who  make  shrines  lor 
the  goddess  Diana  that  they  are  partakers  in  the  guilt  of  those 
who  worship  the  idol,  and  most  of  them  will  abandon  the  unhallowed 
pursuit.  Satisfy  the  unreflecting  vender  of  ardent  spirits  that  he- 
is  morally  responsible  for  all  the  crime  and  misery  which  his  mad- 
dening potations  naturally  produce,  and  he  will  relinquish  the  He- 
moralizing  traffic.  Point  the  christian  to  the  sacred  pati;e  where 
the  pen  of  inspiration  hath  written,  'he  who  hath  the  love  ol  God 
in  his  heart,  worked)  no  ill  to  his  neighbor,'  and  he  will  not,  for  tin 
sake  of  a  few  dollars,  destroy  the  temporal  and  eternal  happi:>;ss 
of  those  around  him.  Convince  the  retailer  who  makes  the  drunk- 
ard, and  sends  him  staggering  home  to  abuse,  and  perhaps  to  mur- 
der a  wretched  wife  and  starving  children,  that  the  curse  of  Hea- 
ven is  denounced  against  him  who  holdeth  the  cup  to  his  neighbor's 
lips,  and  surely  he  will  forbear.  Let  ihe  attention  of  the  fond  pa- 
rent who  seeks  to  provide  for  his  beloved  offspring,  by  the  manu- 
facture or  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  be  directed  to  this  withering  curse 
which  may  soon  be  resting  upon  his  own  head,  when  he  may  be 
compelled  to  rescue  his  own  broken-hearted  daughter  from  the 
indescribable  wretchedness  of  a  drunkard's  hovel,  or  to  follow  his 
last   son  to   that   hopeless   depository,    a   drunkard's  grave ;  and 

*  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  Chancellor  of  the  State  of  New  York. 


12  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [122 

certainly  coercion  cannot  be  necessary  to  induce  him  to  forsake 
this  dangerous  pursuit.  And  let  all  emulate  the  precept,  and  en- 
deavor to  live  up  to  the  requirements  of  that  law,  which  commands 
us  to  love  our  neighbors  as  ourselves,  and  to  consider  and  treat  all 
mankind  as  our  brethren. 

"  High  on  a  scroll,  inscribed  on  Nature's  shrine, 
Live,  in  bright  characters,  the  words  divine — 
'  In  all  life's  changing  scenes,  to  others  do 
'  What  you  would  wish  by  others  done  to  you.' 
Winds,  wide  o'er  earth  this  sacred  law  convey  ; 
Ye  nations  hear  it,  and  let  all  obey." 

In  September  the  Temperance  Society  of  Baltimore  applied  to 
our  secretary  for  an  »agent  to  labor  under  their  direction  and  at 
their  expense,  in  that  city  and  state.  He  engaged  for  that  service 
the  Rev.  John  Marsh,  of  Haddam,  Connecticut,  Secretary  of  the 
Connecticut  Temperance  Society.  In  addition  to  the  visiting  of 
different  parts  of  that  state,  he  visited  also,  during  his  agency,  the 
city  of  Washington  ;  and  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  meet- 
ing in  the  capitol  which  has  been  referred  to,  and  which  has  been 
so  extensively  useful  throughout  the  country.  The  Hon.  Lewis 
Cass,  secretary  of  war,  presided,  and  Walter  Lowry,  Esq.  clerk  of 
the  senate  of  the  United  States,  was  secretary  of  the  meeting. 
The  Rev.  Reuben  Post,  of  Washington  City,  chaplain  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  opened  the  meeting  with  prayer.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Marsh  stated  that  the  object  of  it  was,  the  promotion  of 
the  cause  of  Temperance  in  the  United  States,  and  throughout 
the  world.  The  meeting  was  then  addressed  by  the  Hon.  Felix 
Grundy,  United  States  Senator  from  the  State  of  Tennessee  ;  the 
Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  United  States  Senator  from 
the  state  of  New  Jersey ;  the  Hon.  Isaac  C.  Bates,  member 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts  ; 
the  Hon.  James  M.  Wayne,  member  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives from  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster, 
United  States  Senator,  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  A  vote 
of  thanks  was  then  presented  to  the  secretary  of  war  for  presiding 
on  the  occasion,  and  the  meeting  was  closed  with  prayer  by  the 
Rev.  Professor  Durbin,  of  Kentucky,  chaplain  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States. 

Those  who  addressed  the  meeting  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the 
social,  civil,  and  religious  benefits  which  have  resulted  to  our 
country,  from  the  formation  and  operations  of  Temperance  Socie- 
ties, and  expressed  their  conviction  that  the  influence  of  them  will 
be  felt  through  the  world.  The  speeches  have  since  been  publish- 
ed in  various  parts  of  the  country,  have  passed  through  several 
editions,  and  are  now  receiving  a  very  extensive  circulation. 

Another    important  testimony    to  the   benefits  of  temperance 


123]  FIFTH  REPORT. 1832.  13 

societies,  and  to  the  importance  of  their  universal  extension,  was 
given  hy  the  Hon.  William  Wirt,  late  attorney  general  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.     In  a  communication  which  he  made  to  a  meeting  of 
the  Baltimore  city  Temperance  Society  he  said,  "  1  have   been 
for  more  than  forty  years  a  close  observer  of  life  and  manners  in 
various  parts  of  the  United  States,  and  I  know  not  the  evil  that 
will  bear  a  moment's  comparison  with  intemperance.     It  is  no  ex- 
aggeration to  say,  as  has  been  often   said,  that  this  single  cause 
has  produced  more  vice,  crime,   poverty,  and  wretchedness  in 
every  form,  domestic  and  social,  than  all  the  other  ills  that  scourge 
us,  combined.     In  truth,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  meet  with  misery 
in  any  shape,  in  this  country,  which  will  not  be  found  on  examina- 
tion to  heve  proceeded,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  excessive 
use  of  ardent  spirits.     Want  is  one  of  its  immediate  consequences. 
The  sau  spectacle  of  starving  and  destitute  families,  and  of  igno- 
rant, half  naked,  vicious  children,  ought  never  to  be  presented  in 
a  country  like  this,  where  the  demand  for  labor  is  constant,  the 
field  unlimited,  the  sources  of  supply  inexhaustible,  and  where 
there  are  none  to  make  us  afraid;  and  it  never  would  be  presented, 
or  very  rarely  indeed,  were  it  not  for  the  desolation  brought  upon 
families  by  the  general  use  of  this  deadly  poison.     It  paralyses  the 
arm,  the  brain,  the  heart.     All  the  best  affections,  all  the  energies 
of  the  mind,  wither  under  its  influence.     The   man  becomes  a 
maniac,  and  is  locked   up  in  a  hospital,  or  imbrues  his  hands  in 
the  blood  of  his  wife  and  children,  and  is  sent  to  the  gallows  or 
doomed  to  the  penitentiary ;  or,  if  he  escapes  these  consequences, 
he  becomes  a  walking  pestilence  on  the  earth,  miserable  in  him- 
self, and   loathsome  to  all  who  behold   him.     How  often   do  we 
see,  too,  whole  families  contaminated   by  the  vicious  example  of 
the  parent ;  husbands,  wives,  daughters,  and  sons,  all  drunkards 
and  furies  :  sometimes  wives  murdering  their  husbands  ;  at  others 
husbands  their  wives ;  and  worst  of  all,  if  worse  can  be  in  such  a 
group  of  horrors,  children  murdering  their  parents.     But  below 
this  grade  of  crime,  how  much  is  there  of  unseen  and  untold  mise- 
ry, throughout  our  otherwise  happy  land,  proceeding  from  this  fatal 
cause  alone.     lam  persuaded  that  if  we  could   have  a  statistical 
survey  and  report  of  the  affairs  of  unhappy  families  and  individu- 
als, with  the  causes  of  their  misery  annexed,  we  should   find  nine 
cases  out  often,  if  not  a  still  greater  proportion,  resulting  from  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits  alone.     With  this  conviction,  which  seems  to 
havo  become   universal   among  reflecting  men,  the  apathy  shown 
to  the  continuance  of  the  evil  can  only  be  ascribed  to  the  circum- 
stance that  the  mischief,  though  verbally  admitted,  is  not  seen  and 
felt  in  all  its  enormity.     If  some  fatal  plague,  of  a  contagious 
character,  were  imported  into  our  country,  and   had  commenced 
its  ravages  in  our  cities,  we  should  see  the  most  prompt  and  vigor- 
2  10* 


14  AMERICAN    TEEPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [124 

ous  measures  at  once  adopted  to  repress  and  extinguish  it :  but 
what  are  the  most  fearful  plagues  that  ever  carried  death  and 
havoc  in  their  train  through  the  eastern  countries,  compared  with 
this  ?  They  are  only  occasional ;  this  is  perennial.  They  are 
confined  by  climate  or  place  ;  this  malady  is  of  all  climates, 
and  all  times  and  places.  They  kill  the  body  at  once;  this  con- 
sumes both  body  and  soul  by  a  lingering  and  dreadful  death,  involv- 
ing the  dearest  connections  in  the  vortex  of  ruin.  What  parent, 
however  exemplary  himself,  can  ever  feel  that  his  son  is  safe  while 
the  living  fountain  of  poison  is  within  his  reach  ?  God  grant  that 
it  may  soon  become  a  fountain  sealed,  in  our  country  at  least.  What 
a  relief,  what  a  delightful  relief,  would  it  be  to  turn  from  the  awful 
and  horrid  past,  to  the  pure,  peaceful,  and  happy  future  !  to  see 
the  springs  of  life,  and  feeling,  and  intelligence,  renewed  on  every 
hand  ;  health,  industry,  and  prosperity,  glowing  around  us  ;  the 
altars  of  domestic  peace  and  love  rekindled  in  every  family ;  and 
the  religion  of  the  Saviour  presented  with  a  fair  field  for  its  celes- 
tial action. 

"  The  progress  already  made  by  our  temperance  societies,  ir 
advancing  this  golden  age,  proves  them  to  be  of  a  divine  origin. 
May  the  Almighty  crown  his  own  work  with  full  and  speedy  suc- 
cess.      I  remain,  dear  sir,  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

"William  Wirt." 

So  numerous  and  striking  have  been  the  benefits  of  societies 
formed  on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  that 
increased  efforts  have  been  made  during  the  past  year  to  extend 
them  through  the  country.  The  friends  of  temperance  in  the 
State  of  New  York  have  set  an  example  on  this  subject,  which, 
if  followed,  would  do  much  towards  banishing  intemperance  from 
the  earth.  They  have  entered,  with  systematic  vigor,  and  wiih  great 
success,  on  the  plan  of  forming  a  temperance  society  in  every  town, 
and  in  ever  school  district  in  the  State.  A  circular  has  been  issued 
and  sent  to  every  family,  inviting  all  the  members  who  have  come 
to  years  of  understanding,  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit; 
and  to  unite  with  a  temperance  society.  More  than  50,000  have 
been  added  to  their  temperance  societies  during  the  past  year. 
And  the  secretary  of  that  society  states,  that  the  members  which 
are  added  to  their  societies  will  average  a  thousand  a  day.  "The 
circulars,"  he  says,  "have  produced  and  are  producing  wonders. 
All  that  our  State  needs  is  information,  and  the  work  will  be  onward. 
Pennsylvania  has  sent  for  a  partial  supply  of  the  circulars,  and  we 
have  sent  enough  to  the  Secretary  of  the  navy  for  the  supply  of 
our  national  ships. 

To  engage  in  this  benevolent  work  all  classes  of  people,  and  to 


125]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  15 

extend  the  same  efficient  system  throughout  the  country,  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  at  their  meeting  in 
Boston,  January  16,  1832,  adopted  the  following  resolutions,  viz. 

"  1.  That  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  interests  of  our  country, 
and  of  the  world,  would  be  greatly  promoted,  should  each  indivi- 
dual abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink  ;  from 
the  manufacture  of  it,  and  the  traffic  in  it;  and  from  the  furnish- 
ing of  it,  in  any  way,  as  drink  for  others. 

"  2.  That  each  individual  in  our  country,  as  soon  as  practicable, 
be  particularly  invited  thus  to  abstain,  and  in  all  suitable  ways  to 
exert  his  influence,  to  lead  all  others  to  do  the  same. 

"  3.  That,  as  information  is  important,  a  Circular,  containing  a 
brief  view  of  the  prominent  facts  on  this  subject,  be  prepared,  and, 
as  means  can  be  obtained,  be  sent  to  every  family  in  the  United 
States,  respectfully  and  earnestly  requesting  each  individual,  who 
has  come  to  years  of  understanding,  to  adopt  the  above  plan ;  and, 
for  the  sake  of  doing  good,  to  unite  with  others  in  a  Temperance 
Society. 

"  4.  That,  to  promote  the  formation  of  Temperance  Societies,  to 
invite  all  to  join  them,  and  to  carry  the  above  plan  into  practical 
effect  throughout  our  country,  it  is  needful  that  one  or  more  wise 
and  efficient  Agents  should  be  employed  by  each  Slate ;  and  that 
some  General  Agents  should  visit  all  parts  of  our  land. 

"  5.  That  application  be  made  to  benevolent  individuals  and 
known  friends  of  temperance,  for  means  to  accomplish  the  above- 
mentioned  objects  ;  and  to  enable  the  American  Temperance  So- 
ciety to  prosecute  its  great  and  benevolent  work,  till  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirit  as  a  drink,  the  manufacture  of  it,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  shall 
be  done  away  throughout  our  country,  and  throughout  the  world." 

In  pursuance  of  the  above  resolutions,  the  following  letter  has 
been  published,  and  sent  to  a  number  of  gentlemen  in  different  parts 
of  the  United  States  : — 

"  The  American  Temperance  Society  is  engaged  in  the 
great  and  benevolent  work  of  extending  the  principle  of  abstinence 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  till  it  shall  become  universal.  By 
means  of  the  press  and  of  living  agents,  a  strong  impression  has 
already  been  made,  and  a  great  change  effected  with  regard  to 
this  subject.  More  than  a  million  of  persons  in  the  United  State* 
now  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  Among  them  are  those 
of  all  ages,  and  in  all  kinds  of  lawful  business.  Many,  who  for 
years  used  it  habitually,  and  thought  it  needful,  have  found  by- 
experience  that  they  were  mistaken,  and  that  they  are  in  all  re- 
spects better  without  it.  And  should  the  experiment  be  fairly 
made,  this  would  be  found  to  be  the  case  with  all. 

"  More  than  a  thousand  distilleries  have  been  stopped  ;  more 
than  three  thousand  merchants  have  ceased  to  traffic  in  the  poison, 


16  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [126 

and  more  than  three  thousand  drunkards  ceased  to  use  intoxicating 
drinks.  More  than  ten  thousand  persons,  as  appears  from  numer- 
ous facts,  have,  by  the  change  in  the  sentiments  and  practices  of 
the  community,  already  been  saved  from  becoming  drunkards. 
The  quantity  of  ardent  spirit  used  over  extensive  districts  of  coun- 
try, has  been  greatly  diminished  ;  and  pauperism,  crime,  sickness, 
insanity,  and  premature  deaths  have  been  diminished  in  propor- 
tion. 

"  And  when  persons  have  ceased  to  use  intoxicating  drinks,  they 
have  not  only  become  more  sober,  healthy,  diligent  and  economi- 
cal, and  their  condition  for  this  life  been  greatly  improved  ;  but 
they  have,  in  much  greater  numbers,  become  hopefully  pious,  and 
experienced  an  entire  change  of  character  and  ol  prospects  for  the 
life  to  come.  And  could  appropriate  means  be  used,  over  our 
whole  country,  a  change,  with  the  divine  blessing,  might  be  effect- 
ed, which  would  save,  annually,  millions  of  property,  and  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  lives  ;  a  change  which  would  remove  one 
of  the  greatest  dangers  to  our  social,  civil,  and  religious  institutions, 
one  of  the  greatest  obstructions  to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and 
all  the  means  of  grace  ;  and  one  of  the  chief  causes,  throughout 
our  land,  of  human  wretchedness  and  wo. 

But  for  ability  to  employ  these  means,  and  accomplish  these 
objects,  the  American  Temperance  Society  is  dependent  upon 
what  the  friends  of  temperance  are  disposed  to  furnish.  Its  whole 
permanent  income  is  not  six  hundred  dollars  a  year ;  a  sum  insuf- 
ficient to  print  and  circulate,  as  extensively  as  is  desirable,  even 
its  Annual  Report.  Numerous  and  pressing  applications,  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  are  made  for  publications,  and  for  agents  ; 
out  the  Society  has  not  the  means  of  complying  with  these  re- 
quests. And  without  assistance,  its  labors,  which,  in  time  past 
have  been  so  greatly  blessed,  and  which  are  so  intimately  connect- 
ed with  the  welfare  of  the  present  and  all  future  generations  of 
men,  for  both  worlds,  must  in  a  great  measure  cease.  Whether 
they  shall  be  continued,  or  not,  now  depends  upon  this,  whether 
the  friends  of  the  object  will  furnish  the  means. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  in  reliance  on  Him  who  has  all 
hearts  in  his  hands,  have  resolved  to  make  application  to  as  many 
as  practicable,  of  the  known  friends  of  temperance,  who  are  blessed 
with  property,  and  respectfully  and  earnestly  request  thern  to  fur- 
nish the  necessary  means.  Should  one  hundred  individuals  give 
cne  hundred  dollars  a  year,  or  could  a  sum  equal  to  that  be  ob- 
tained, abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  might,  it  is  believed, 
be  extended  throughout  our  country,  and  throughout  the  Chris- 
tian world.  The  next  generation,  and  all  future  generations  of 
men  might  come  forward  into  life  without  the  habit  of  using  it, 
without  any  appetite  for  it,  or  expectation  of  any  benefit  to  be  de- 


127  J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  17 

rived  from  the  use  of  it.  Then  the  gospel  and  all  the  means  of 
grace  may  be  expected  to  produce  more  than  double  their  past 
effects  ;  and  all  efforts  for  the  intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  bene- 
fit of  man  be  crowned  with  greatly  augmented  success.  And  in 
no  way,  probably,  could  the  same  amount  of  property  do  greater 
good  to  mankind. 

The  Committee,  therefore,  in  fulfilment  of  the  high  trust  assign- 
ed to  them,  and  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  great  interests 
of  our  country  and  the  world,  respectfully  and  earnestly  request 
the  friends  of  temperance  to  assist  them  in  this  great  and  moment- 
ous work.  And  although  they  have  no  desire  to  dictate  as  to  the 
manner,  or  the  amount,  yet  as  it  is  very  desirable  that  they  should 
know  what  means  they  can  obtain  in  order  to  lay  out  their  plans, 
and  direct  their  operations  accordingly,  they  take  the  liberty  to 
present  the  following  form  of  subscription,  viz. — To  enable  the 
American  Temperance  Society,  by  means  of  the  press,  and  of  living 
agents,  to  extend  the  principle  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit,  throughout  our  country, — we  the  subscribers  agree  to  pay 
annually  lo  said  society,  so  long  as  it  shall  appear  to  us  to  be  pro- 
per, the  sums  annexed  to  our  names. 

George  Odiorne, 

John  Tappan, 

Heman  Lincoln,    }  Committee. 

Justin  Edwards, 

Enoch  Hale,  Jr. 
Boston,  Jan.  16,  1832. 
P.  S. — Although,  for  the  reasons  above  mentioned,  and  also  on 
account  of  the  greater  ease  and  diminished  expense  of  collecting 
it,  an  annual  subscription  is  viewed  by  the  Committee  as  more 
desirable  than  a  donation,  yet  if  any  person  prefer  to  assist  by  a 
donation,  he  is  requested  to  write  donation  against  his  name.  And 
any  amount,  furnished  in  either  way,  and  sent  to  the  Treasurer,  97 
Milk  street,  Boston,  will  be  thankfully  received,  and  faithfully  ap- 
propriated to  the  great  object  of  the  society." 

The  Circular  referred  to  in  the  3d  resolution  has  been  prepar- 
ed. It  is  a  pamphlet  of  twelve  pages,  and  has  been  stereotyped. 
It  is  sold  by  A.  Russell,  No.  5,  Cornhill,  Boston,  at  $10  per 
thousand,  and  is  adapted  to  universal  circulation. 

Should  one  hundred  individuals  give  one  hundred  dollars  a 
year,  or  could  a  sum  equal  to  that  be  obtained,  a  copy  of  it  might 
be  put  into  every  family  in  the  United  States  :  millions  be  added 
to  Temperance  Societies,  and  their  operations  be  continued  till  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  shall  be  done  away. 


18  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [128 

More  than  100,000  copies  of  the  pamphlet  referred  to,  have  already 
been  printed  ;  and  all  who  are  disposed  to  promote  the  good  of 
mankind,  are  requested  to  aid  in  furnishing  means,  and  in  giving  to 
it  a  universal  circulation. 

The  Corresponding  Secretary  has  continued  to  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  concerns  of  the  Society.  He  superintended  the  stereo- 
typing and  printing  of  the  Fourth  Report,  and  assisted  in  its  circula- 
tion. He  also  prepared  the  circulars  which  have  been  referred 
to ;  has  traveled  more  than  1 700  miles,  and  addressed  public 
bodies  more  than  150  times.  He  has  prepared  numerous  articles 
which  have  been  circulated  extensively  through  the  medium  of 
periodicals,  and  public  papers;  has  published  forty  letters  on  the 
immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit ;  conducted  the  correspon- 
dence, and  superintended  the  general  concerns  of  the  Society. 
An  abstract  of  the  letters  on  the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  have,  at  the  request  of  friends  of  the  cause,  been  published 
in  a  pamphlet,  and  are  found  in  the  Appendix  to  this  Report.* 

Means  have  been  furnished  for  the  employment  of  an  agent  six 
months  in  the  city  of  New  York,  who  was  appointed  by,  and  la 
bored  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  of  the  New  York  City 
Temperance  Society.  An  agent  also  of  the  Baptist  denomination 
has  been  employed  for  eight  months,  in  the  State  of  Illinois. 
Other  agents  have  been  employed  by  State  and  County  societies  ; 
numerous  individuals  have  performed  voluntary  agencies;  ad- 
dresses have  been  delivered  by  clergymen,  attorneys,  physicians 
and  others;  the  press,  with  its  powerful  and  all-pervading  voice, 
has  continued  to  speak,  and  the  conviction  to  deepen  and  extend, 
that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  the  manufacture  of  it,  and 
the  traffic  in  it,  is  an  immorality  of  a  high  and  aggravated  character  ; 
wholly  opposed  in  its  nature  and  influence  to  the  spirit  and  require- 
ments of  the  Christian  religion  ;  at  war  with  the  honor  and  govern- 
ment of  Jehovah,  and  hostile  to  the  holiness  and  happiness  of 
mankind.  The  conviction  is  becoming  general,  that  the  men  who 
understand  the  nature  and  effects  of  ardent  spirit,  and  yet  continue 
to  traffic  in  it,  are  accessories  to  the  evils,  and  accomplices  in  alJ 
the  crimes  which  it  occasions ;  that  they  give  fearful  evidence 
that  they  regard  money  more  than  God,  and  are  willing,  for  the 
sake  of  it,  to  destroy,  for  both  worlds,  their  fellow-men.  Sob^r 
men  of  all  classes,  who  have  examined  this  subject,  are  moving 
onward  to  the  settled  and  permanent  conclusion,  that  such  men 
cannot,  while  they  continue  to  do  this,  give  that  credible  evidence 
of  being  good  men,  which  would  justify  an  impartial  community, 
in  receiving  and  treating  them  as  such. 

Multitudes,  during  the  past  year,  have  spoken  out  on  this  subject, 

*  Appendix  G. 


129J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  19 

and  with  great  clearness  and  strength,  corroborated  what  others 
had  said  before. 

Rev.  Henry  Ware,  jr.  professor  of  pulpit  eloquence  and  the 
pastoral  care  in  Harvard  University,  says,  "  No  proposition  seems 
to  me  susceptible  of  more  satisfactory  demonstration  than  this, — 
and  I  am  sure  that  no  person  can  give  it  one  hour's  serious  thought 
without  assenting  to  it, — that,  in  the  present  state  of  infoi  .nation  on 
this  subject,  no  man  can  think  to  act  on  Christian  principles,  or  do 
a  patriot's  duty  to  his  country,  and  at  the  same  time  make  or  sell 
the  instrument  of  intoxication."  And  shall  men  continue  to  be 
received  as  giving  credible  evidence  of  being  Christians,  who 
knowingly  carry  on  an  employment,  in  which  they  cannot  think  to 
act  on  Christian  principle  ?  and  which  is  utterly  inconsistent,  even 
with  a  patiiot's  duty?  which,  in  the  language  of  this  writer,  is 
u  no  less  than  employing  his  time,  capital  and  industry  to  prepare 
for  use,  and  offer  for  use,  that  which  has  been  proved  to  be  the 
principal  source  of  misery  and  crime  in  modern  society  ?  providing 
for  men  the  convenient  and  tempting  means  of  ruining  their  health, 
and  their  business  ;  beggaring  their  families,  becoming  vagabonJs, 
and  a  nuisance  while  alive,  and  sinking  prematurely  to  a  dishonor- 
able grave  ? "  and  when  "  the  nature  of  his  calling  renders  this 
inevitable,  and  he  cannot  be  a  dealer  in  spirits  without  becoming 
accessory  to  all  this  vice  and  ruin  ? "  Is  he  who,  for  the  sake  of 
money,  perseveringly  continues  to  do  this,  to  be  received  and 
treated  as  giving  credible  evidence  that  he  is  a  good  man  ?  An 
injured  and  suffering  community,  by  the  voice  of  accumulating 
millions,  answers — No. 

The  Rev.  Francis  Wayland,  D.  D.  President  of  Brown  Univer- 
ty  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  in  an  address  lately  delivered, 
after  stating  that  it  has  been  shown  that  more  than  $90,000,000 
are  annually  lost  to  the  country  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  in  addition 
to  all  the  other  evils  which  flow  from  it,  puts  to  the  conscience  of 
each  one  who  continues,  whether  by  wholesale  or  retail,  to  be  en- 
gaged in  the  traffic,  or  in  any  way  to  furnish  ardent  spirit  for  the 
use  of  his  fellow  men,  the  following  questions,  viz. 

"  First.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  is  spreading  disease,  and  poverty,  and  premature  death 
throughout  my  neighborhood  ?  How  would  it  be  in  any  similar 
case  ?  Would  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  selling 
poison,  or  from  propagating  plague,  or  leprosy  around  me  ? 

Second.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  is  debasing  the  minds,  and  ruining  the  souls  of  my  neigh- 
bors ?  How  would  it  be  in  any  other  case  ?  Would  it  be  right 
for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  the  sale  of  a  drug  which  produced 
misery,  or  madness  ;  or  from  the  sale  of  obscene  books  which  ex- 


20  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [130 

cited  the  passions,  and  brutalized  the  minds,  and  ruined  the  soula. 
of  my  fellow  men  ? 

Third.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  destroys  forever  the  happiness  of  the  domestic  circle — 
which  is  rilling  the  land  with  women  and  children  in  a  condition 
far  more  deplorable  than  that  of  widows  and  orphans  ? 

Fourth.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  is  known  to  be  the  cause  of  nine-tenths  of  all  the  crimes 
which  are  perpetrated  against  society  ? 

Fifth.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  brings  upon  society  nine-tenths  of  all  the  pauperism  which 
exists,  and  which  the  rest  of  the  community  an;  obliged  to  pay 
for? 

Sixth.  Can  it  be  right  for  me  to  derive  my  living  from  that 
which  accomplishes  all  these  at  once,  and  which  does  it  without 
Ceasing  ? 

Do  you  say  that  you  do  not  know  that  the  liquor  which  you  are 
selling  will  produce  these  results?  Do  you  not  know  that  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  gallons  produce  these  effects  for  one 
which  is  used  innocently  ?     I  ask,  then, 

Seventh.  Would  it  be  right  for  me  to  sell  poison  on  the  ground 
that  there  was  one  chance  in  a  thousand  that  the  purchaser  would 
not  die  of  it  ? 

Eighth.  Do  you  say  that  you  are  not  responsible  for  the  acts 
of  your  neighbor?  Is  this  clearly  so?  Is  not  he  who  knowingly 
furnishes  a  murderer  with  a  weapon,  considered  an  accomplice  ? 
Is  not  he  who  navigates  a  slave  ship,  considered  a  pirate  ? 

If  these  things  be  so,  and  that  they  are  so,  who  can  dispute,  I 
ask  you,  my  respected  fellow  citizens,  what  is  to  be  done  ?  Let 
me  ask,  is  not  this  trade  altogether  wrong  ?  Why,  then,  should 
we  not  altogether  abandon  it  ? 

If  any  man  think  otherwise  and  choose  to  continue  it,  I  have 
but  one  word  to  say.  My  brother,  when  you  order  a  cargo  of  in- 
toxicating drink,  think  how  much  misery  you  are  importing  into 
the  community.  As  you  store  it  up,  think  how  many  curses  you 
are  heaping  together  against  yourself.  As  you  roll  it  out  of  your 
warehouse,  think  how  many  families  each  cask  will  ruin.  Let 
your  thoughts  then  revert  to  your  own  fireside,  your  wife,  and  your 
little  ones  ;  look  upward  to  Him  who  judgeth  righteously,  and  ask 
yourself,  my  brother,  Is  this  right  ?  - 

The  Hon.  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  Chancellor  of  the  State  of 
New  York  and  President  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance 
Society,  in  an  address  lately  delivered,  says,  "  Though  my  public 
duties  have  not  allowed  me  to  participate  in  this  great  work  in  the 
manrer  I  could  have  desired,  I  have  witnessed  with  delight  its 
lapid  progress,  and  shall  ever  esteem  it  the  highest  honor  I  coi^d 


131 J  FIFTH    ftEfOttT.—  1  832,  21 

have  received  from  my  fellow  citizens,  to  have  heen  permitted  to 
connect  my  name  with  this  institution,  and  to  use  the  little  personal 
mfluence  1  possessed  in  aiding  its  operations. 

"  In  reviewing  the  progress  of  temperance  for  a  few  years  past, 
the  changes  which  have  been  produced  in  public  opinion  on  this 
important  subject  are  astonishing,  even  to  its  most  sanguine  friends. 
And  it  furnishes  to  us  all  the  highest  encouragement  to  continue 
our  exertions,  until  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits  shall  be  con- 
sidered as  disgraceful  as  open  opposition  to  such  use  was  once 
deemed  unpopular  ;  until  reflecting  men  will  no  more  think  of 
making  and  vending  ardent  spirits,  or  of  erecting  and  renting  grog- 
shops as  a  means  of  gain,  than  they  would  now  think  of  poisoning 
the  well  from  which  a  neighbor  obtains  water  for  his  family,  or  of 
arming  a  maniac  to  destroy  his  own  life,  or  the  lives  of  those  around 
him." 

Such  are  becoming  the  views  of  good  men  of  all  descriptions, 
who  are  acquainted  with  this  subject,  throughout  the  country. 
They  view  it  as  a  sin  of  high  and  awful  aggravation  ;  and  believe 
that  a  man  is  as  really  guilty  who  kills  himself,  or  is  accessory  to 
the  death  of  his  fellow  men,  by  means  of  ardent  spirit;  as  by  means 
of  opium,  a  knife,  or  a  pistol ;  and  that  the  hope  of  greater  bodily 
gratification,  or  worldly  gain,  is  no  more  really  a  justification  in 
one  case,  than  in  the  other.  And  they  believe  that  the  commands 
of  God,  "  abstain  from  fleshly  lusts,  (bodily  gratifications)  which 
war  against  the  soul;"  "  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do  to 
you,  do  ye  to  them  ;  "  and  "  thou  shalt  not  kill,"  and  many  others, 
as  really  forbid  a  man's  being  the  occasion  of  death  in  one  case, 
as  in  the  other. 

Says  a  distinguished  writer,*  "  I  challenge  any  man  who  un- 
derstands the  nature  of  ardent  spirit,  and  yet,  for  the  sake  of  gain, 
continues  to  be  engaged  in  the  traffic,  to  show  that  he  is  not  in- 
volved in  the  guilt  of  murder."  The  money  that  is  accumulated 
in  this  way  is  now  viewed  as  the  price  of  blood,  and  when  left  to 
the  children,  and  scattered  by  them  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven, 
will  be  spoken  of  as  the  inheritance  which  the  Lord  hath  cursed. 

Another  writer,f  declares,  "  They  who  keep  these  fountains  of 
pollution  and  crime  open,  are  sharers,  to  no  small  extent,  in  the 
guilt  which  flows  from  them.  They  may  be  temperate  men 
themselves,  but  they  contribute  to  make  others  intemperate.  They 
stand  at  the  very  source  of  the  evil.  They  command  the  gate- 
way of  that  mighty  flood  which  is  spreading  desolation  through  the 
land  ;  and  are  chargeable  with  all  the  present  and  everlasting  con- 
sequences, no  less  than  the  infatuated  victim  who  throws  himself 

•  Lyman  Ptiocher,  D.  D.  t  Rev.  Samuel  Spring. 

11 


2'2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [132 

upon  the  bosom  of  the  burning  torrent,  and  is  borne  by  it  into  the 
gulf  of  wo." 

The  Rev.  Wilbur  Fiske,  D.  D.  President  of  the  Wesleyan 
University,  Middletown,  Conn,  in  an  address  to  members  of 
churches  on  the  immorality  of  the  traffic,  says,  "  It  is  not  enough 
that  a  majority  of  the  church  keep  themselves  from  evil ;  if  they 
hold  the  sacred  and  protecting  banner  of  the  church  over  those 
who  cause  others  to  sin,  they  are  verily  guilty  themselves.  The 
same  train  of  means  and  causes  that  have  produced  the  intemper' 
ate  of  the  past  and  the  present  generations  are  still  in  operation 
to  produce  an  equal  or  greater  proportion  in  the  next  generation, 
and  so  on  forever  !  And  what  is  still  worse,  the  church  is  aiding 
and  abetting  this  diabolical  conspiracy  against  the  bodies  and 
souls  of  men  !  We  had  indeed  hoped  for  better  things  of  Chris- 
tians ;  but  we  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  the  fact.  And  I  appeal 
to  the  church  herself,  and  ask  her  in  the  name  of  sincerity  if  she 
can  clear  herself  of  the  charge  ?  Do  not  many  of  her  members 
use  ardent  spirits  ?  Do  they  not  traffic  in  the  accursed  thing  ? 
Do  they  not  hold  out  on  their  signs  invitations  to  all  that  pass  by, 
to  come  and  purchase  of  them  the  deadly  poison?  Then  indeed 
is  the  church  a  partner  in  this  conspiracy  ;  for  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  all  the  drunkenness  in  the  land  is  produced  by  what  is 
called  the  temperate  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

"  The  conclusion,  then,  is  irresistible,  and  every  candid  mind 
must  feel  it,  every  Christian  will  feel  it,  he  who  by  use  and  traffic 
countenances  the  practice  of  drinking  ardent  spirits,  is  throwing 
his  influence  into  the  work  of  recruiting  the  ranks  of  the  intem- 
perate, and  renders  himself  personally  responsible  for  the  woes 
that  follow.  I  say,  then,  on  all  the  moderate  drinkers  in  our  land, 
on  all  that  traffic  in  the  accursed  thing,  rests  the  wo  that  God  him- 
self hath  denounced  on  him  that  putteth  the  cup  to  his  neighbor's 
mouth,  and  maheth  him  drunken. 

"  My  Christian  brother,  if  you  saw  this  trade  as  I  believe  God 
sees  it,  you  would  sooner  beg  your  bread  from  door  to  door,  than 
gain  money  by  such  a  traffic.  The  Christian's  dram  shop ! 
Sound  it  to  yourself.  How  does  it  strike  your  ear  ?  It  is  doubt- 
less a  choice  gem  in  the  phrase-book  of  Satan  !  But  how  para- 
doxical !  How  shocking  to  the  ear  of  the  Christian  !  How  offen- 
sive to  the  ear  of  Deity  !  Why,  the  dram  shop  is  the  recruiting 
rendezvous  of  hell !  (If  the  term  shocks  you  I  cannot  help  it,  for 
we  all  know  it  is  the  truth.)  And  shall  a  Christian  consent  to  be 
the  recruiting  officer  ?  It  is  here  the  drunkard  is  made,  and  you 
pander  to  his  appetite  until  you  have  kindled  up  in  his  bosom  a 
raging  fire  that  can  never  be  quenched — and  all  this  for  a  little 
money  ! — And  when  you  have  helped  make  him  a  drunkard,  and 
he  becomes  troublesome,   you  drive  him,   perhaps,    from  your 


133]  FIFTH    REPORT. — 1832.  23 

house  or  your  shop,  declare  you  mean  to  keep  an  orderly  houst  ! 
express  your  abhorrence  of  drunkards!  and  imagine  you  are  in- 
nocent of  their  blood  !  But  it  is  too  late  to  talk  about  denying 
him  now.  The  man  is  ruined,  and  you  have  been  the  instrument. 
Say  not,  if  you  do  not  sell,  others  will.  Must  you  be  an  ally  of  Sa- 
tan, and  a  destroyer  of  your  race,  because  others  are  ?  If  you 
leave  off  selling,  you  will  weaken  the  ranks  of  sin,  and  strengthen 
th<?  hands  of  the  righteous.  Say  not,  if  you  do  not  sell,  it  will 
injure  your  business,  and  prevent  your  supporting  your  family. 
It  was  said  by  one,  that  '  such  a  statement  is  a  libel  upon  the  Di- 
vine government.'  Must  you,  indeed,  deal  out  ruin  to  your  fel- 
low men,  or  starve  ?  Then  starve  !  It  would  be  a  glorious  mar- 
tyidom  contrasted  with  the  other  alternative.  Do  not  say,  I  sell 
Dy  the  large  quantity — I  have  no  tipplers  about  me — and  therefore 
I  am  not  guilty  !  You  are  the  chief  man  in  this  business — the 
others  are  only  subalterns.  You  are  the  '  poisoners  general,'  of 
whom  Mr.  Wesley  speaks,  who  murder  your  fellow  citizens  by  the 
wholesale.  But  for  the  retailers  to  do  your  drudgery,  you  would 
have  nothing  to  do.  While  you  stand  at  the  bulk  head,  and  open 
the  flood  gates,  they  from  this  river  of  fire  draw  off  the  small  riv- 
ulets, and  direct  them  all  over  the  land,  to  blight  every  hope,  and 
burn  up  every  green  thing.  The  greater  your  share  in  the  traffic, 
the  greater  is  your  guilt.  There  is  no  avoiding  this  conclusion. 
The  same  reasoning  will  also  apply  to  the  manufacturer.  If  any 
man  has  priority  of  claim  to  a  share  in  this  work  of  death,  it  is  the 
manufacturer.  The  church  must  free  herself  from  this  whole 
business.  It  is  all  a  sinful  work,  with  which  Christians  should 
have  nothing  to  do,  only  to  drive  it  from  the  sacred  enclosures  of 
the  church,  and  if  possible  from  the  earth." 

The  Rev.  Baxter  Dickinson,  of  Newark,  in  the  State  of  N.  J. 
in  addressing  makers  and  venders  of  ardent  spirit,  says,  "  You  are 
creating  and  sending  out  the  materials  of  disorder,  crime,  poverty, 
disease,  and  intellectual  and  moral  degradation.  You  are  contrib- 
uting to  perpetuate  one  of  the  sorest  scourges  of  our  world.  And 
the  scourge  can  never  be  removed  till  those  deadly  fires  which  you 
have  kindled  are  all  put  out. — Without  a  prophet's  vision,  I  foresee 
the  day  when  the  manufacture  of  intoxicating  drink  for  common 
distribution,  will  be  classed  with  the  arts  of  counterfeiting  and  for- 
gery, and  the  maintenance  of  houses  of  midnight  revelry  and  pollu- 
tion.— Upon  the  dwellings  you  occupy,  upon  the  fields  you  enclose, 
upon  the  spot  that  entombs  your  ashes,  there  will  be  fixed  an  in- 
describable gloom  and  odiousness,  to  offend  the  eye  and  sicken  the 
heart  of  a  virtuous  community,  till  your  memory  shall  perish.  Quit, 
then,  this  vile  business,  and  spare  your  name,  spare  your  family,  spare 
your  children's  children  such  insupportable  shame  and  reproach.'* 
And  he  might  have  added,  spare  yourself  too  the  insupportable 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [134 

anguish  of  meeting,  at  the  tribunal  of  God,  those  whom  you  have 
polluted,  debased,  and  ruined.  All,  who,  by  the  fiery  poison 
which  you  have  furnished,  have  ripened  for  the  fire  that  never  can 
be  quenched,  will  meet  you  at  the  judgment  day,  and  pour  out 
upon  you,  as  accessories  to  their  ruin,  their  deep  and  awful  execra- 
tions !  Nor  do  they  always  delay  till  the  light  of  eternity  awakes 
them.  A  man  who  had  been  furnished  by  his  neighbor  with  the 
means  of  destruction,  and  been  brought  by  it  to  the  verge  of  the 
grave,  was  visited,  in  his  last  moments,  by  the  author  of  his  ruin ; 
who  asked  him,  whether  he  remembered  him.  The  dying  man, 
forgetting  his  struggle  with  the  king  of  terrors  said,  "  Yes,  I  re- 
member you,  and  I  remember  your  store,  where  I  formed  the 
habit  which  has  ruined  me  for  this  world  and  the  next.  And 
when  I  am  dead  and  gone,  and  you  come  and  take  from  my 
widow  and  fatherless  children  the  shattered  remains  of  my  proper- 
ty to  pay  my  rum  debts,  they  too  will  remember  you."  And  he 
added,  as  they  were  both  members  of  the  same  church,  "  Yes, 
brother,  we  shall  all  remember  you,  to  all  eternity."  And  it 
might  be  added,  he  too,  will  remember  them,  and  will  remember 
what  he  did,  for  the  sake  of  money  to  bring  their  husband  and  fa- 
ther and  his  own  brother  in  the  church,  to  the  drunkard's  grave ; 
and  to  take  from  the  widow  and  fatherless  not  merely  property 
but  that  which  no  wealth  can  purchase  ;  and  which  when  taken, 
no  power  on  earth  can  restore.  And  he  may  remember  himself 
too,  as  the  author,  the  guilty,  polluted,  execrable  author  of  mis- 
chief which  eternity  cannot  repair  ;  and  which  may  teach  him,  in 
deeper  and  deeper  wailings,  that  it  profits  a  man  nothing  to  gain 
the  world,  and  lose  his  soul ;  or  be  accessory  to  the  loss  of  the 
souls  of  others. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Beecher,  in  addressing  the  young  men  of  Boston 
said,  "  The  dealers  in  this  liquid  poison  of  ardent  spirit  may  be  com- 
pared to  men  who  should  advertise  for  sale,  consumptions,  and 
fevers,  and  rheumatisms,  and  palsies,  and  apoplexies.  But  would 
our  public,  authorities  permit  such  a  traffic?  No — The  public 
voice  would  be  heard  at  once,  for  the  punishment  of  such  ene- 
mies of  our  race ;  and  the  rulers  that  would  not  take  speedy  ven- 
geance would  be  execrated  and  removed.  But  now  the  men  who 
deal  out  this  slow  poison  are  licensed  by  law  ;  and  they  talk  abcut 
their  constitutional  rights,  and  plead  that  they  are  pursuing  their 
lawful  callings.  But  does  the  law  of  God,  or  the  good  of  society 
admit  of  an  employment  to  decoy  the  unwary,  and  murder  the 
innocent  ?  yet  these  traffickers  in  the  blood  of  men,  tell  us  that  this 
work  of  death  is  their  living,  their  means  of  supporting  their  fam- 
ilies ;  and  that  others  will  prosecute  the  business  if  they  decline  it. 
But  can  they  imagine  that  God  will  prosper  such  a  course  for  the 
destruction  of  their  fellow  beings  ?  or  that  he  has  so  constituted 


135]  fifth  report. — 1S32.  25 

things  as  to  render  the  transgression  of  his  laws  the  necessary 
means  of  family  subsistence  ?  Should  a  class  of  persons  attempt  to 
dig  pit-falls  in  our  public  streets,  to  insnare  the  passengers  ;  01 
should  they  make  use  of  blood-hounds  to  tear  and  devour  our 
peaceful  citizens,  or  should  they  hire  a  company  ol  cut-throats  to 
drag  out  our  young  men  from  their  peaceful  homes,  and  murder 
them  in  our  streets ;  how  long  may  we  suppose  the  authorities  ol 
our  city  would  endure  such  ravagers  and  spoilers  ?  But  where  lies 
the  difference  in  criminality  between  the  drain -seller  who  adminis- 
ters tne  slow,  but  certain  death,  and  the  public  murdeier?  The 
former  is  licensed  in  his  wickedness,  by  law,  the  other  must  be 
hanged."  Over  every  grog-shop,  says  Judge  Daggett,  should  be 
written,  in  great  capitals,  "  The  way  to  hell,  going  down  to  the 
chambers  of  death."  Nor  have  such  appeals,  which,  during  the 
past  year  have  been  multiplied  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  been 
in  vain.  Hundreds  of  distilleries  have  been  stopped,  and  thousands 
of  merchants  have  given  up  the  traffic.  And  those  who  have  not, 
are  becoming  daily  more  and  more  criminal,  often  in  their  own 
view,  and  more  often  in  the  view  of  others.  A  distinguished  gen- 
tleman from  one  of  our  principal  cities  writes,  "  Distillers,  retailers, 
and  drunkards  are  culprits  here  in  the  eyes  of  all  sober  men."  The 
remark  is  now  common,  that  it  is  as  wicked  to  kill  a  man,  by  one 
kind  of  poison,  as  by  another.  And  the  conviction  is  settling 
down  upon  the  public  mind,  that  he  who  continues  knowingly  to  do 
it  in  any  way,  is,  in  the  sight  of  God  a  murderer,  and  as  such 
will  be  held  responsible  at  his  tribunal.  The  opinion  of  Judge 
Cranch,  with  regard  to  the  criminality  of  furnishing  ardent  spirit, 
as  a  drink,  is,  with  conscientious  and  enlightened  men,  fast  becom- 
ing common.  "  I  know,  that  the  cup  is  poisoned — I  know  that  it 
may  cause  death — that  it  may  cause  more  than  death — that  it 
may  lead  to  crime,  to  sin — to  the  tortures  of  everlasting  remorse. 
Am  I  not  then  a  murderer?  worse  than  a  murderer?  as  much 
worse  as  the  soul  is  better  than  the  body?" — "  If  ardent  spirits, 
were  nothing  worse  than  a  deadly  poison — if  they  did  not  excite 
and  inflame  all  the  evil  passions — if  they  did  not  dim  that  heav- 
enly light  which  the  Almighty  has  implanted  in  our  bosoms 
to  guide  us  through  the  obscure  passages  of  our  pilgrimage — if 
they  did  not  quench  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts,  they  would 
be  comparatively  harmless.  It  is  their  moral  effect — it  is  the 
ruin  of  the  soul  which  they  produce,  that  renders  them  so  dread- 
ful. The  difference  between  death  by  simple  poison,  and  death  by 
habitual  intoxication,  may  extend  to  the  whole  difference  between 
everlasting  happiness,  and  eternal  death."  Multitudes,  increasing 
rapidly,  now  say,  with  the  gentlemen  who  compose  the  committee 
of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  "  Disguise  that  busi- 
ness as  they  will,  it  is  still,  in  its  true  character,  the  business  of  de- 
3  11* 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [136 

stroying  the  bodies  and   the  souls  of  men.     The  vender  and  the 
maker  of  spirit,  in  the  whole  range  of  them  from  the  pettiest  grocer 
to  the  most  extensive  distiller,  are  fairly  chargeable  not  only  with 
supplying  the  appetite  for  spirit,  but  With  creating  that  unnatural  ap- 
petite ;  not  only  with  supplying  the  drunkard  with  the  fuel  of  his 
vices,  but  with  making  the   drunkard."  *     And   they  are   fairly 
chargeable  too  with  being  accessories  to  all  the  mischief,  and  ac- 
complices in  all  the  guilt  which  flows  from  it.     Nor  is  the  commu- 
nity any  longer  to  be  blinded,  and  put  off  by  the  stale  plea,  that 
they  do  not  know  that  they  produce  such  effects,  and  do  not  in- 
tend to  kill  men,  by  their  employment.     The  fact  is,  they  do 
know  ;  or  if  they  did  not  hate  the  light,  and  shut  their  eyes  against 
it,  would  know.     The  evidence  is  before  the  public,  and  accessible 
to  any  man.    It  is  now  proved  by  facts  which  no  impartial  man  can 
gainsay  or  resist,  that  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  is  not  necessary,  not 
useful,  not  harmless,  and  not  safe ;  that  it  is  a  poison  both  to  the 
body  and  the  mind  ;  that  it  causes  a  great  portion  of  all  the  crimes 
and  wretchedness  in   our  land;  that  it  hinders  the  efficacy  of  the 
gospel,  and  often  ushers   men,  in  a  state  of  drunkenness  and  not 
unfrequently  with  blasphemy  on  their  tongues,  into  a  boundless  eter- 
nity.    Providence  has  exhibited  facts  on  this  subject,  which  are  de- 
cisive ;  as  well  might  a  man  continue  to  discharge  grape-shot  among 
multitudes  of  people,  or  poison  their  wells  of  water,  and  say  that 
he  does  not  know  that  he  shall  kill ;  or  to  circulate  among  them 
atheistical  and  immoral  books,  and  say  that  he  does  not  intend  to 
destroy,  and  expect  therefore  to  be  excused, — as  to  expect  it,  while 
he  continues  to  furnish  them  as  a  drink  with  ardent  spirit.     The 
community  will  look  at  the  results  of  his  actions,  and  fasten  upon 
him  their  odiousness  and   guilt.     Nor  arc  they  any  longer  to  be 
misled  by  the  sophistical  declaration  applied  to  this  subject,  that  the 
abuse  of  a  thing  is  no  argument  against  its  use  ;  for  all  use  of  ar- 
dent spirit  as  a  drink,  is  now  known  to  be  an  abuse.     It  is  now 
known  to  be  mischievous  as  a  drink,  under  all  circumstances.     It 
is  now  known,  on  every  organ  it  touches  to  operate  as  a  poison ; 
nowhere  in  the  human  body  is  it  allowed  even  a  lodgement  till  the 
vital  powers  are  so  far  prostrated  that  it  cannot  be  removed  :  "  It 
produces  weakness,  not  strength  ;  sickness,  not  health  ;  death,  not 
life."     The  use  of  it  therefore  is  branded  as  a  sin ;  and  the  fur- 
nishing of  it,  for  the  use  of  others,  as  a  still  greater  sin. 

There  is  another  view  of  this  subject  which  is  becoming  com- 
mon, viz.  That  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  is  a  business  which  is 
unjust  toward  the  community.  Here,  for  instance,  is  a  county 
which  has  in  it  a  thousand  drunkards ;  a  great  portion  of  them 
paupers,  of  course ;  and  are,  or  soon  will  be,  with  their  children, 

*  Second  Report  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  p.  90. 


137J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  27 

thrown  as  a  burden  upon  the  public.  The  profit  of  making  these 
paupers  is  enjoyed  by  a  few  grocers,  but  the  burden  of  supporting 
them  comes  on  the  whole  community.  By  what  theory  of  politi- 
cal economy,  or  what  principle  of  correct  legislation,  can  it  be 
shown  that  there  is  not,  in  this,  horrible  injustice.  Do  the  men 
who  carry  on  the  business  say,  that  they  pay  a  bonus  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  by  it  increase  the  revenue  of  the  State,  and  thus  in  some 
measure  compensate  the  community  for  the  mischief  which  they 
do  to  it  ?  Let  us  examine  this  plea.  Here  is  a  town  of  a  thou- 
sand people.  In  it  is  a  retailer  who  sells  ardent  spirit  to  all  who 
will  buy  ;  and  thus  causes  a  great  portion  of  all  the  pauperism 
and  wretchedness  in  the  place.  And  what  does  he  pay  for  thus 
burdening  the  community  with  taxes,  and  bringing  upon  it  a  host 
of  other  evils  ?  The  paltry  sum  of  one  dollar.*  And  are  the 
community  to  be  told  that  therefore  this  business  is  not  unjust  ? 
that  as  he  pays  four  dollars,  it  is  just  that  he  should  increase  more 
than  four-fold  their  paupers  and  their  criminals  ;  augment  greatly 
their  diseases,  expose  their  children  to  drunkenness  and  ruin  ?  On 
what  principle  of  righteousness  can  it  be  shown  to  be  just  for  him, 
for  one  dollar,  to  burden  that  community  with  ten  times  that  sum, 
and  bring  upon  it  evils,  for  which  no  money  can  compensate.  In 
one  town,  through  which  our  Secretary  passed,  there  was  but  one 
man  who  sold  ardent  spirit,  and  he  was  a  member  of  the  church. 
There  were  one  fourth  as  many  drunkards  in  that  place  as  their 
were  families  ;  and  he  supplied  them  all.  He  supplied,  also,  all 
moderate  drinkers  with  that  which  is  adapted  to  make  them 
drunkards,  to  ruin  their  children,  and  to  perpetuate  a  drunkard 
to  every  four  families  to  all  future  generations.  At  one  time  his 
own  son,  in  the  house  and  business  of  his  father,  was  dealing  out 
this  poison,~*and  partaking  of  it  himself,  till  he  became  so  poisoned 
that  he  could  not  stand  ;  and  was  carried  home  to  his  heart-broken 
wife  and  children,  in  a  state  of  intoxication.  This  you  say  is  hor- 
rible— horrible.  It  is,  indeed.  Yet  it  is  the  very  business  in 
which  are  many  church  members,  even  in  New  England.  Some 
of  this  character  have,  the  last  year,  been  admitted  to  the  churches, 
who  are  as  really  accessory  to  the  making  of  drunkards,  as  was  this 
man.  If  they  do  not  make  drunkards  of  their  own  children,  they 
do  of  the  children  of  others.  And  the  committee  cannot  but  deep- 
ly regret  that  Boston,  the  metropolis  of  the  pilgrims,  exalted  by 
blessings  to  heaven,  and  which  ought  to  be  a  light  and  a  glory  to 
all  lands,  should  have  churches  in  which  there  are  members,  who 
make  it  a  business  to  stand  at  these  poisonous  fountains,  and  pour  out 
streams  of  death  over  the  community ;  thus  teaching  by  business,  the 

*  The  sum  paid  by  a  retailer,  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  for  a  license  to  sell 
ardent  spirits. 


28  -    AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [138 

most  impressive  way,  that  for  men  to  buy  and  use  ardent  spirit,  is 
right  j  a  doctrine  that  has  probably,  during  the  past  century,  pol- 
luted more  hearts,  beggared  more  families,  destroyed  more  lives, 
and  ruined  more  souls,  than  any  other  heresy  or  crime  whatever. 
And  so  long  as  the  churches  shall  connive  at  such  deadly  evils  in 
their  members,  may  they  expect  to  be  visited  with  the  withering 
curse  of  the  Almighty.  They  cannot  hold  the  protecting  banner  of 
the  cross  over  such  enormities,  and  escape  the  blasting  indignation 
of  Him  who  bled  upon  it,  to  redeem  unto  himself  a  peculiar  peo- 
ple, zealous  only  of  good  works.  Not  only  are  they  ruining  men 
by  thousands  for  the  next  world,  but  most  unjustly  and  cruelly 
loading  the  community  with  tremendous  burdens  in  this. 

In  the  city  of  Washington,  225  venders  of  spirit  paid  for  the 
privilege  of  selling  it,  about  $6000,  annually.  The  pecuniary  loss 
to  the  citizens  from  the  use  of  it,  Judge  Cranch  has  estimated  at  not 
less  than  $60,000.  And  were  all  the  losses  which  result  from  it 
taken  into  the  account,  he  says  that  the  amount  would  probably  be 
doubled.  Here  then,  supposing  this  estimate  to  be  correct,  is  a 
community  suffering  a  loss  of  $120,000  annually,  to  obtain  the 
paltry  revenue  of  $6000. 

And  are  those  who  receive  no  profits  from  the  sale  of  ardent 
spirit  to  be  told  that  it  is  just  that  they  should  endure  these  evils, 
and  bear  these  burdens  ?  This  will  not  be  believed.  Thousands 
who  have  no  wish  for  such  a  law,  still  ask,  "Was  a  law  ever  enacted 
more  perfectly  righteous,  than  one  which  should  require  that  the 
men  who  alone  have  the  profits  of  making  drunkards,  should  alone 
bear  the  burden  of  supporting  them."  And  so  long  as  this  is  not 
the  case,  the  business  will  be  reprobated,  by  an  enlightened  com- 
munity, as  palpably  unjust,  and  as  highly  criminal.  And  even 
should  those  who  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  support  all  the  paupers 
they  make,  still  the  law  of  God  would  condemn  the  employment ; 
because  it  is  injurious,  in  all  its  connections,  to  the  spiritual  good 
of  men.  And  they  cannot  continue  to  prosecute  it,  without  fasten- 
ing upon  the  public  mind  the  conviction  that  they  are  notorious')' 
wicked  men  ;  men  who,  for  their  own  pecuniary  profit,  will  know- 
ingly and  perseveringly  curse  the  community. 

As  certainly  as  the  nature  of  man  continues  the  same,  and  light 
on  this  subject  continues  to  increase,  this  conviction  will  extend, 
till  it  shall  become  universal.  It  fastens,  even  now,  upon  the 
seared  conscience  of  many  a  retailer  himself.  Said  one,  who  du- 
ring the  past  year  renounced  this  traffic,  laying  his  hand  on  his 
heart,  "You  can't  think  what  a  load  I  have  got  off  here."  He 
had  been  the  whole  round  of  excuses,  for  continuing  the  business  ; 
had  persevered  in  the  contest  between  covetousness  and  con- 
science, until  he  had  fought  every  inch  of  ground  ;  but,  "  I 
ave  lain  awake,"  said    he,   "  night  after  night,  and  night  after 


139J  FIFTH  REPORT. — 1832.  29 

night,  thinking  of  it."  Thinking  of  what  ?  That  he  was  engaged 
in  a  work  of  death ;  that  for  the  wretchedness,  temporal  and  eter- 
nal, which  he  was  occasioning,  he  must  answer  at  the  tribunal  of 
God — thinking  that  it  would  profit  him  nothing  to  gain  the  world 
and  lose  his  soul ;  or  be  instrumental  in  destroying  the  souls  of 
others.  Yes,  he  lay  awake  night  after  night,  thinking  of  it.  It  is 
the  determination  of  God,  that  men  shall  think  of  it.  His  provi- 
dence is  pressing  it  upon  their  minds.  Light  has  penetrated  even 
the  thick  darkness  which  surrounds  the  distiller's  conscience  and  the 
wholesale  dealer's.  While  furnishing  by  hogsheads  and  cargoes, 
what  Robert  Hall  called  "  distilled  death,  and  liquid  damnation," 
a  dreadful  sound  has  been  in  their  ears,  crying,  "  although  sen- 
tence against  an  evil  work  is  not  executed  speedily,  yet  judgment 
of  a  long  time  lingereth  not,  and  damnation  slumbereth  not." 
The  Holy  Ghost,  in  many  cases,  has  convinced  them  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment.  And  where  the  heart  of  the  fa- 
ther has  not  been  touched,  his  children  often  have  prayed  and 
wept  over  his  approaching  ruin.  "  Father,"  said  a  son,  with  tear- 
ful emotion,  "  are  you  going  to  sell  any  more  rum  ?  I  should  not 
think  you  would. — Oh,  T  hope  you  will  not."  He  trembled  lest 
he  should  witness  his  own  father,  stained  with  the  guilt  of  blood 
He  abhorred  the  thought  of  his  providing,  by  such  an  employment, 
even  bread  for  his  children.  While  eating  it,  they  might  feel,  as 
if  they  were  living  upon  the  tears  and  groans  of  other  children. 
Nor  are  such  feelings  with  regard  to  this  business,  without  good 
reasons.  In  the  State  of  New  York  alone,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
weeks,  not  less  than  four  men,  under  the  influence  of  ardent  spirits 
murdered  their  wives,  and  with  their  own  hands  made  their  chil- 
dren orphans.  And  shall  other  children  wish  to  live  on  the  gains 
of  such  a  business  ?  or  parents  by  it  to  provide  bread  for  their 
children  ?  Can  their  children  desire  that  they  should  lay  up 
money,  or  even  support  them,  by  that  which  leaves  other  children, 
who  need  support  as  much  as  they,  without  parents?  One  of 
these  men  put  to  death  not  only  his  wife,  but  six  of  his  children. 
With  his  own  hand,  under  the  influence  of  this  poison,  which  some 
man  for  a  trifle  had  sold  him,  he  could  butcher  his  offspring,  and 
place  one  of  them  to  broil  to  death  on  the  fire  of  his  own  hearth. 
And  shall  other  children  widi  their  parents  to  sell  it  ?  Shall  any 
of  those,  who,  under  the  light  of  the  Bible,  are  rising  through  sab- 
bath schools,  into  life,  ever  think  for  a  moment,  of  engaging  in 
such  an  employment,  or  wish  to  have  their  parents  continue  in  it? 
Is  it  strange  that  they  beseech  their  fathers  with  tears,  as  they 
value  the  favor  of  God,  and  would  escape  his  righteous  indigna- 
tion, to  renounce  it? 

The  Judge,  in  passing  sentence  upon  one  of  the  unhappy  men 
whose  children  had  by  his  own  hand  been  rendered  motherless. 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERAN'CE    SOC1ET5T.  [140 

said,  "  By  one  fatal  act  your  wife  was  sent  to  the  cold  and  silent 
mansions  of  the  dead  ;  your  children  were  deprived  of  all  the  en- 
dearments and  fostering  care  of  their  mother,  and  you  are  fated 
to  expiate  your  offence  upon  a  gallows.  Upon  a  review  of  this 
shocking  transaction,  the  question  naturally  presents  itself,  what 
could  so  have  perverted  your  nature  ?  what  could  so  have  steeled 
your  heart  ?  The  answer  is, — spirituous  liquor.  It  has  had  the 
effect  to  estrange  you  from  the  most  endearing  relation,  from  the 
ties  of  blood,  from  your  obligations  to  your  fellow  beings  and  to  your 
Creator.  If  any  further  evidence  were  wanting  to  manifest  the  deso- 
lating effects  of  ardent  spirits  which  have  moved  like  a  destroying 
angel  over  our  land,  we  have  it  in  the  astounding  fact,  that  within 
the  last  two  months,  three  men  have  been  arraigned  before  me,  on 
charges  of  murdering  their  wives  :  each  of  these  offences  was  com- 
mitted by  intemperate  men."* 

As  another  Judge  was  passing  sentence  of  death  upon  anoth- 
er of  these  unhappy  men,  a  spectator  remarks,  "  When  the  allu- 
sion was  made  to  the  tender  and  thrilling  circumstance  of  his  vic- 
tim, being  not  only  a  defenceless  woman,  but  his  own  confiding 
wife,  the  mother  of  his  own  children,  who  was,  at  the  moment  of 
receiving  the  fatal  blow  from  his  hand,  giving  sustenance  to  his 
smiling  infant,  folded  in  her  arms;  and  of  her  being  found  by  the 
neighbors,  after  the  murderer  had  fled,  literally  weltering  in  her 
own  blood,  and  in  the  very  agonies  of  death,  still  folding  the  cling- 
ing babe  to  her  bosom,  with  a  maternal  fondness  that  neither  cruel- 
ty nor  death  could  overcome ;  I  say,  when  these  circumstances 
were  alluded  to,  a  shock  passed  over  his  system  too  heavy  for  con- 
cealment. 

"  A  sudden  flash  and  rapid  roll  of  the  eye  showed  a  living  sen- 
sibility in  him,  which  even  drunkenness  and  crime  had  not  the 
power  to  extinguish.  But  it  was  momentary.  He  soon  recover- 
ed himself,  and  heard  again,  like  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to 
master  compunctions  of  conscience,  until  he  was  referred  to  the 
awful  retributions  of  eternity,  and  reminded  that  his  only  hope  was 
in  speedy  repentance  and  humbling  himself  before  God,  when 
another  shudder  came  over  him,  too  powerful  not  to  be  noticed. 
A  strong  emotion,  in  spite  of  resistance,  rose  in  his  soul,  at  the 
thought  of  eternity,  and  its  retribution  to  the  murderer.  But,  ex- 
cept in  these  two  instances,  it  was  not  seen  that  Holt  felt  more  than 
others.  He  stood  there,  at  once  a  living  victim  to  his  ruling  vice, 
intemperance  ;  and  a  living  demonstration  of  its  hardening,  petrify- 
ing influence  upon  all  that  is  dignified  and  lovely  in  our  being,  and 
of  its  certain  tendency  to  obliterate  the  last  trace  of  humanity  and 

*  Judge  Edwards'  sentence  of  death  upon  James  Ransom. 


141]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  31 

of  kindly  feeling  from  our  nature,  and  to  transform  a  man,  a  hus- 
band, a  father,  into  the  veriest  monster  in  the  universe. 

"  Holt  was  the  keeper  of  a  tippling  shop,  and  himself  a  tippler. 
Ah  !  this  tells  the  story  !  let  those,  then,  who  are  so  far  following 
in  his  steps  be  warned,  and  beware  lest  they  overtake  him  in  his 
end!" 

"  Paul  B.  Torrey,  of  Naples,  N.  Y.  in  a  fit  of  intoxication  on 
Sunday,  die  17th  hist,  after  cruelly  beating  his  own  son,  took  him  by 
the  legs  and  dashed  his  head  against  the  side  of  the  house  with  such 
violence,  as  to  break  the  wall,  and  then  with  a  boot-jack  beat  the 
poor  child's  head  literally  to  a  jelly.  The  dead  body  was  discov- 
ered on  Monday  afternoon.  The  murderer  is  in  jail  atCanandaigua. 
Torrey  was  addicted  to  intemperance.  His  wife  was  driven  from 
his  house  some  time  since.  He  was  a  merchant,  as  we  learn 
from  a  house  in  this  city,  with  whom  he  dealt,  in  good  standing. 
All  this  unutterable  anguish  comes  from  the  detestable  habit  of 
drinking." — Mb  any  paper. 

A  gentleman  from  Portsea,  England,  writes,  "I  was  called  yester- 
day to  a  house  in  the  neighborhood,  where  a  man  had  just  mur- 
dered his  wife  ;  the  purple  gore  was  yet  flowing,  and  life  was  not 
extinct,  when  I  arrived.  The  husband  was  in  a  state  of  intoxica- 
tion, and  his  wife  speedily  expired,  from  a  wound  inflicted  by  him, 
with  a  shoe-maker's  knife.  They  were  both  drunkards.  I  at- 
tended the  inquest :  the  verdict  returned,  was,  '  wilful  murder.* 
The  day  before,  a  child  was  burnt  to  death  by  its  clothes  taking 
fire.  The  father  and  mother,  at  the  time  it  took  place,  were  both 
so  drunk  that  they  could  not  assist  the  little  sufFerer." 

In  view  of  such  facts,  which  might  be  recounted  for  hours,  the 
community  will  apply  the  principle  maintained  by  the  distinguish- 
ed legislator  referred  to,  that  "  the  man  who  holds  out  the  temp- 
tation, is  the  chief  transgressor."  For  cents  and  sixpences,  he 
will  thus  knowingly  sport  with  the  lives  and  souls  of  his  fellow 
men. 

On  a  certain  day,  during  the  past  year,  one  of  these  men  sold 
his  neighbor,  who,  with  his  wife  and  son  about  22  years  old,  had 
been  intemperate,  some  New  England  rum.  The  next  day  an 
altercation  took  place  betwen  the  son  and  his  mother.  He  told 
her  if  she  would  furnish  him  with  a  rope  he  would  hang  himself. 
The  rope  was  procured,  and  a  few  rods  from  the  house,  he  suspend- 
ed himself  from  a  tree.  In  that  situation  a  neighbor  discovered  him, 
and  informed  his  mother  that  her  son  was  dead.  She  said  she 
was  glad  of  it,  and  hoped  he  was  in  hell.  While  the  man  was  gone 
lo  call  others,  she  made  her  way  to  the  spot,  where  her  son  hung,  a 
lifeless  corpse,  took  a  bottle  from  his  coat  pocket,  and  drank  her- 
self to  intoxication.  Not  many  months  after,  her  husband  was 
found  on  the  floor  of  his  house,  in  which  stale  it  is  supposed  he  had 


32  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [142 

been  24  hours,  dead.  And  what  did  that  man  get  probahly  for 
the  rum  which  he  sold  them  ?  Perhaps  thirty  cents.  And  for 
that  paltry  sum,  he  is  to  be  held  eternally  responsible  for  its  effects. 
"  Such  painful  effects,"  says  a  writer  on  the  spot,  who  conversed 
with  this  woman  on  the  death  of  her  son,  "  speak  loudly  and  im- 
pressively ;  and  I  hope  will  excite  all  the  friends  of  temperance  to 
increased  devotedness  in  a  cause,  which  so  directly  involves  the 
present  and  eternal  welfare  of  mankind." 

In  another  case,  a  man  sold  to  a  man  and  woman  a  pint  of 
ardent  spirit.  They  drank  a  part  of  it,  and  made  their  way  to- 
ward a  pond,  in  which  they  were  both  shortly  after  found  dead, 
with  their  clothes  and  their  bottle  lying  together  on  the  shore. 
And  how  much  did  that  man  get  for  thus  being  accessory  to  the 
death  of  two  of  his  fellow  men  ?  perhaps  six  cents.  So  true  is  it, 
that  men  who  call  themselves  sober,  humane,  and  who  sometimes 
even  profess  religion,  for  cents  and  sixpences  will  destroy  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  their  fellow  men. 

To  one  individual  was  committed  at  one  time  on  board  a 
steam-boat  the  care  of  a  hundred  and  twenty  persons.  Some 
one,  for  a  mere  pittance,  sold  him  some  ardent  spirit;  under  its  in- 
fluence he  was  called  to  encounter  a  storm.  Night  approached, 
danger  became  imminent,  and  being  near  the  port  the  passen- 
gers besought  him  to  return.  "  No,  said  he,  if  we  go  back  we 
shall  have  no  profit."  And  for  three  hours  he  held  those  passen- 
gers in  danger  of  death ;  and  when  entreated  to  make  signals  of 
distress,  he  utterly  refused  ;  and  would  not  even  hang  out  a  light ; 
although  by  doing  it,  the  prospect  was  that  all  might  be  saved ; 
and  by  not  doing  it,  that  all  would  be  lost.  The  vessel  struck 
upon  a  rock,  and  fifty  persons  were  plunged  into  the  sea.  And, 
as  if  in  judgment,  the  first  among  them,  was  the  captain  himself. 
And  there,  amidst  the  foaming  billows,  more  than  a  hundred  persons 
found  a  watery  grave, — all  apparently  occasioned  by  ardent 
spirit.  Says  a  passenger  who  was  saved,  "  the  captain  was  in- 
toxicated all  the  way."  And  what  did  the  person  who  sold  him 
the  liquor  get  for  thus  being  accessory  to  the  loss  of  more  than  a 
hundred  lives  ?  And  what  will  it  avail  him  in  the  day  when  he 
must  answer  for  the  influence  of  his  business  upon  the  world  ? 
Will  it  screen  him  from  the  accusation  of  the  slain,  the  stings  of 
an  accusing  conscience,  and  the  burning  indignation  of  an  in- 
censed God,  to  say,  If  he  had  not  done  it,  somebody  else  would  ? 

From  a  similar  cause,  thousands  of  lives  are  wantonly  sacrificed, 
and  property  to  an  almost  incredible  amount,  buried  in  the  ocean, 
every  year.  And  shall  the  men  who  are  knowingly  accessory, 
think  to  escape  the  execrations  of  earth,  or  heaven  ? 

A  merchant  from  one  of  our  principal  sea-ports  remarks,  "1 
sent  out  a  vessel  under  an  express  agreement  that  no  ardent  spirit 


1 43]  FIFTH   REPORT. — 1832.  33 

should  be  taken  on  board.  I  had  suffered  so  many  losses  from 
it,  that  I  resolved  never  to  permit  it  to  be  taken  on  board  again. 
The  captain,  in  violation  of  his  agreement,  when  about  to  return 
took  on  board  four  gallons  of  brandy,  which  lasted  him  about  four 
weeks;  and  that  four  gallons  of  brandy  cost  me  $4000.  A  great 
proportion  of  all  the  shipwrecks  on  the  ocean  are  occasioned  by 
it.  I  hardly  ever  suffered  a  loss  at  sea,  or  had  vessels  meet  with 
disasters,  where  this  was  not  the  cause ;  and  I  am  resolved 
never  to  send  out  another  vessel  under  the  command  of  a  man, 
who  will  either  use,  or  furnish  it." 

So  strongly  marked  are  the  facts,  that  such  are  now  becoming 
the  sentiments  of  respectable  merchants  throughout  the  country. 
More  than  five  hundred  vessels  are  afloat,  which  do  not  carry  ar- 
dent spirit ;  and  they  will  outride  storms  which  wi-11  shipwreck  a 
great  portion  of  the  vessels  that  do.  Insurance  offices,  have,  in 
some  cases  on  such  vessels,  diminished  the  rate  of  insurance  five 
per  cent.  And  the  time,  it  is  hoped,  is  not  distant  when  the  use 
of  ardent  spirit  by  officers  or  crews,  in  case  of  the  loss  of  vessels, 
shall  be  a  forfeiture  of  the  insurance. 

Nor  is  the  change  more  striking  or  beneficial,  in  the  merchant 
service  than  in  the  Navy.  An  order  was  issued  by  the  Secreta- 
ry of  the  Navy,  directing  that  each  man  on  board  the  United 
States  vessels,  who  should  relinquish  his  grog  ration,  should  re- 
ceive as  an  equivalent  six  cents  a  day.  An  officer  on  board  the 
sloop  of  war  John  Adams,  in  a  letter  dated  Syracuse,  Jan.  1st, 
1832,  writes,  "  Since  the  Secretary's  letter  respecting  grog  rations 
has  been  read  to  the  men,  we  have  not  had  more  than  forty  on 
board  who  drew  their  grog,  and  to-day  they  all  stopped  it,  except 
two." 

Commodore  Biddle,  who  commands  the  Mediterranean  squad- 
ron, in  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  states  that  the  whole 
number  of  persons  in  the  squadron,  exclusive  of  commissioned 
and  warrant  officers,  is  1107  ;  and  that  819  have  stopped  their 
allowance  of  spirits ;  and  that  on  board  the  sloop  of  war  John 
Adarns,  not  a  man  draws  his  grog.  And  a  gentleman  from  Syra- 
cuse writes  that  not  an  officer  on  board  draws  his  rations  of  spirits ; 
and  that  there  is  much  zeal  among  them,  in  the  temperance  cause. 
Similar  changes  have  taken  place  on  board  other  ships.  One 
is  now  fitting  out  at  Washington,  and  every  man,  before  he  goes 
aboard  of  her,  voluntarily  pledges  himself  to  abstain  from  the  use 
of  aident  spirit,  and  receives  in  lieu  of  his  rations  of  grog,  an 
equivalent  in  cash.  No  man  not  disposed  thus  to  pledge  himself,  is 
received.  And  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  practice  of  furnish- 
ing ardent  spirit  by  the  government,  and  thus  without  benefit,  and 
at  a  great  expense  exciting  the  men  to  violate  the  commands  of 
their  officers,  tempting  them  to  form  intemperate  habits,  and  reu- 
12 


?A  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [144 

'.ering  them  unfit  for  the  public  service;  corrupting  their  morals, 
increasing  their  diseases,  shortening  their  lives,  and  ruining  their 
souls,  will  ere  long  in  the  Navy,  as  well  as  the  Army,  be  done 
away.  Millions  now  unite  with  that  member  of  Congress,  who,  in 
addressing  the  head  of  the  War  Department  on  the  subject  of 
Temperance,  said,  "  It  may  be  quickened  by  what  I  trust  will  be 
its  next  great  step,  the  relinquishment,  through  enlightened  and 
patriotic  feelings,  of  ardent  spirit  by  our  gallant  army  and  navy. 

"  Those  who  have  had  experience  in  both,  have  officially  declared 
that  the  greatest  difficulties  they  had  to  encounter,  have  arisen  from 
the  daily  rations  of  spirit  to  the  soldier  or  sailor.  The  physician 
says  that  it  is  not  promotive  of  health,  but  that  it  weakens  the 
energies,  engenders  diseases,  and  destroys  life.  Why  then  should 
it  be  given  at  all  to  the  gallant  men  who  bear  our  banner  upon 
the  land  and  the  wave,  and  who  have  the  glories  of  their  fathers 
past  achievements  in  keeping?  The  small  quantity  of  ardent 
spirit  allowed  creates  an  appetite  for  more,  and  it  often  happens, 
in  both  army  and  navy,  that  a  month's  pay  of  the  men  is  spent  for 
the  means  of  intoxication.  In  our  little  army  of  5642  men,  there 
have  been,  it  is  stated,  5832  courts  martial,  within  five  years ;  of 
which  five  sixths  are  chargeable  to  intemperance ;  and  also  4049 
desertions  of  which  almost  all  are  chargeable  to  intemperance. 
Desertion  alone  has  cost  the  United  States  $336,616  in  five  years. 
Add  to  this  the  declension  of  moral  feeling,  the  disease  and  pre- 
mature deaths  produced,  and  what  a  hideous  aggregate  does  it 
give  of  the  ravages  of  intemperance. — What  has  been  done,  it 
was  right  and  best  to  do  gradually.  But  now  strike  boldly  in 
unison  with  the  public  tone ;  fulfil  its  expectation ;  recommend 
the  entire  disuse  of  spirits,  and  receive  from  your  countrymen  the 
praise  of  not  being  statesmen  alone,  but  statesmen  and  benefactors. 
Give  us  your  aid  to  bring  upon  men  almost  the  brightness  of  the 
world's  first  morning." 

A  distinguished  officer  of  the  army,  in  a  letter  to  our  Secretary, 
says,  "  I  am  under  great  obligations  to  you  for  the  Fourth  Report 
of  the  American  Temperance  Society  ;  and  I  feel  myself  highly 
honored  in  having  been  made  a  member  of  that  truly  benevolent 
institution.  When  I  arrived  here,  I  question  whether  there  were 
three  men  who  abstained  wholly  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits — 
now,  more  than  three  fourths  of  our  whole  number  are  members  of 
a  Temperance  Society,  on  the  principle  of  entire  abstinence.  They 
hold  regular  meetings  once;  a  fortnight,  at  which,  one  of  their  num- 
ber reads  an  essay  or  tract  on  intemperance.  The  effect  has 
been  just  what  I  anticipated — a  manifest  improvement  in  the  ap- 
pearance, spirits,  and  conduct  of  the  soldiers.     Instead  of  the  stu- 

*  Hon.  James  PI.  Wayne. 


145J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  35 

pkl  and  bloated  visage,  is  now  seen  the  cheerful  and  healthy  coun- 
tenance— where  was  wrangling  and  strife  is  good  humor  and  play- 
fulness— and  insubordination  and  negligence  have  given  place  to 
cheerful  obedience  and  prompt  attention  to  duty.  Not  a  member 
of  the  society,  which  is  of  six  weeks'  standing,  has  been  confined 
in  the  guard-house,  and  such  has  been  its  influence  even  upon 
others,  that  but  two  men  of  the  whole  command  have  been  con- 
fined since  the  society  was  established.  I  hardly  need  to  add  that 
the  offence,  in  both  cases,  was  intoxication — while,  before  the  soci- 
ety was  formed,  the  average  number  of  men  confined  was  three 
in  twenty-four  hours ;  so  that  there  were  as  many  men  confined 
before  in  one  day,  as  are  now  confined  in  six  weeks. — Since 
the  formation  of  the  society  no  desertion  has  occurred  ;  while  dur- 
ing the  month  preceding  its  formation,  five  men  deserted — I  must 
believe  that  the  difference  is  mainly  to  be  attributed  to  the  temper- 
ance reformation. — I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  that  were  a 
judicious  friend  of  temperance  to  visit  the  various  military  posts, 
and  exert  himself  in  this  truly  benevolent  cause,  his  efforts  would 
save  the  government  thousands,  and  the  members  of  the  army  from 
incalculable  evils." 

And  who  can  doubt,  after  reading  the  above  statement,  that 
this  would  be  the  case ;  when  as  many  men  were  confined  in  the 
guard-house  in  one  day  before  the  temperance  society  was  form- 
ed, as  were  afterwards  in  six  weeks ;  and  when  the  number  of 
desertions  was  diminished  in  a  still  greater  proportion  ?  Thus  in- 
dicating that  the  officers  have  more  than  forty  times  as  much  trou- 
ble with  men  who  use  ardent  spirit,  as  with  men  who  do  not. 
On  what  principle,  then,  of  prudence  or  economy,  patriotism,  or 
even  humanity,  can  the  government  continue  to  furnish  it,  or  li- 
cense men  to  sell  it  to  the  soldier  or  the  seaman  ?  Just  views  on 
this  subject,  the  committee  are  sure,  must  cause  a  practice  produc- 
tive of  no  benefit,  and  fraught  with  such  numerous  and  alarming  evils, 
to  be  abolished  ;  and  they  rejoice  to  find  that  a  change  has  taken 
place  in  other  countries  on  this  subject  similar  to  what  has  been  ef- 
fected in  our  own.  The  British  government  has  ceased  to  furnish 
ardent  spirit  for  their  armies  throughout  their  provinces ;  and  to  a 
great  extent  it  is  relinquished  on  board  many  vessels  in  the  British 
navy.  And  if  the  friends  of  God  and  man  do  their  duty,  the  prac- 
tice of  furnishing  it  in  any  case  will  ere  long  cease  throughout  the 
earth. 

Manufactories  of  every  description  are  now  carried  on,  canals 
and  rail-roads  are  constructed,  and  lawful  business  of  every  sort, 
and  by  constantly  increasing  numbers, is  conducted,  and  with  greatly 
increased  advantage,  without  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  In  the  erec- 
tion oi  the  Massachusetts  Lunatic  Asylum,  the  state  commission- 
ers say,  that  more  than  eleven  hundred  thousand  brick  have  been 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [140 

laid  during  the  past  year;  that  not  an  accident  has  happened;  that 
not  an  hour's  time  has  been  lost  by  the  indisposition  of  any  of  the 
workmen  ;  and  that  not  a  drop  of  ardent  spirit  has  been  consum- 
ed in  the  performance.  Such  facts  are  becoming  common  in  the 
greatest  and  most  difficult  works,  and  the  conviction  is  extending, 
that  should  this  course  be  adopted  by  all,  and  in  all  kinds  of  busi- 
ness, on  the  land  and  on  the  water,  the  benefits  would  be  unspeak- 
able to  our  country  and  the  world. 

Another  point  on  which  great  advance  has  been  made  during 
the  past  year  in  the  public  sentiment,  is,  the  immorality  of  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  also  the  traffic  in  it,  arising  from  its  de- 
structive influence  on  the  soul.  Facts  have  been  developed 
which  are  adapted  to  impress  strongly  on  the  mind,  the  conviction 
that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  especially  the  traffic  in  it,  tends 
in  a  peculiar  manner  to  blind  the  understanding,  to  sear  the  con- 
science, to  harden  the  heart,  and  corrupt  and  ruin  the  whole 
character.  Those  cold-blooded,  long  continued,  and  often  re- 
peated murders  which  have  been  committed  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  money  by  the  sale  of  the  bodies  of  the  murdered  for  an- 
atomical dissection,  have  uniformly  been  committed  in  connection 
with  the  use  and  sale  of  ardent  spirit. 

And,  says  an  energetic  writer,*  "  The  evil  effects  of  ardent 
spirits  are  not  exhibited  alone  on  those  who  drink  them.  The 
very  traffic  stands  unrivalled,  for  its  hardening  and  debasing  influ- 
ence, on  those  engaged  in  its  operations.  Who  that  has  been 
conversant  with  the  pollutions  of  the  petty  grog-shop,  grocery,  or 
tavern,  does  not  recollect  the  cold-blooded  barbarity  and  cupidity 
which  has  been  exhibited  by  its  keeper,  who  doles  to  his  drunken 
revelers,  with  a  calculating  air — and  whose  sole  care  is,  the  profit 
of  his  establishment  ?  Many  of  us  have  witnessed  ifs  effects  on  a 
higher  order  of  dealers.  It  is,  even  in  this  vicinity,  not  unfrequently 
the  case,  that  the  bread-stuffs,  which  arc  worse,  infinitely  worse 
than  annihilated,  by  their  conversion  into  whiskey,  will  command 
a  price  on  account  of  scarcity,  nearly  equal  to  what  can  be  real- 
ized by  distillation,  and  yet,  the  accursed  machinery  must  be  kept 
in  motion,  if  by  the  process,  one  copper  is  to  be  gained — although 
the  hungering  and  helpless  poor  are  pining  for  the  very  dregs, 
which  the  distiller  flings  to  his  swine.  And  how  often  has  this 
same  distiller  furnished  the  means  of  drunkenness  to  the  worthless  . 
master  of  a  family,  and  refused  his  suffering  wife  and  children  the 
very  amount  of  bread,  which,  in  the  form  of  whiskey,  has  served 
only  to  make  a  brutal  husband  more  brutish — and  which  might 
jave  gladdened  the  hearts  of  a  whole  family. 

"Who  does  not  shudder  at  the  appalling  disclosures,  in  relation  to 

*  John  L.  Chandler,  M.  D. 


147J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  37 

the  deeds  perpetrated  in  the  grog-shops  and  groceries  of  Edin- 
burgh ?  Burke  and  his  associates,  if  I  mistake  not,  were  one  or 
more  of  them  the  keepers  of  these  establishments.  They  had 
been  long  practised  in  the  arts  by  which  the  lower  classes  are  en- 
trapped in  such  resorts — and  thus  successfully  plundered  of  their 
last  shilling.  After  the  wretched  victim  had  ceased  to  be  a  profit- 
able customer,  he  was  plied  with  liquor — perhaps  gratuitously, 
until  he  became  stupified  and  insensible — and  then,  in  darkness 
and  privacy — was  suffocated.  And  for  what  purpose?  That  his 
body  might  be  sold  to  the  schools  of  anatomy  or  surgery — for  the 
sum  of  ten — perhaps  of  twenty  dollars !  I  challenge  the  annals 
of  the  world  to  furnish  a  parallel  to  this  monstrous  combination  of 
avarice  and  blood  ;  and  I  charge  it,  fearlessly,  upon  the  traffic  in 
ardent  spirits." 

The  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  in  their  last  Re- 
port, say,  "  We  cannot  in  this  place,  adduce  the  numerous  and 
affecting  proofs  of  the  necessity  of  a  reformation.  It  may  be  suffi- 
cient to  mention  the  affecting  loss  of  the  Rothsay  Castle;*  and  the 
discovery  of  murders  of  so  horrible  a  character,  that  no  word  had 
been  found  in  the  English  language  to  describe  their  atrocity  ;  and 
it  should  be  remembered  that  the  indispensable  instrument  for 
brutalizing  the  perpetrators,  and  for  preparing  their  victims,  was 
intoxicating  liquor."  And  here  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  these 
fiends  in  human  shape  did  not  drink  to  intoxication ;  but  only  to 
such  an  extent,  as  they  thought  needful  to  fit  them  for  their  busi- 
ness ;  on  the  same  principle  as  to  quantity,  which  governs  other 
moderate  drinkers,  viz.  to  take  only  as  much  as  is  adapted,  in 
their  estimation,  to  fit  them  for  their  work.  And  can  the  use 
and  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  stand  thus  connected  with  such 
deeds  of  darkness,  and  tend  to  fit  men  to  perpetrate  them,  and 
not  be  adapted  to  destroy  their  souls? 

In  February,  our  Secretary  issued  the  following  circular,  viz. 

"  It  is  known  to  all  persons  who  are  acquainted  with  the 
churches  of  Christ  in  the  United  States,  that  an  unusual  number 
of  persons  have  been  admitted  to  many  of  them  during  the  past 
year.  The  American  Temperance  Society  is  desirous  of  ascer- 
taining concerning  those  churches,  the  following  particulars,  viz. 

1 .  Are  there  any  persons  in  them  who  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  ? 
If  so,  how  many  ? 

2.  What  proportion  of  the  persons  who  have  been  admitted  to 
those  churches,  during  the  past  year,  do  not  use  it  ? 

3.  What  proportion  of  the  whole  population  to  whom  the  gos- 
pel is  preached  in  the  town  or  parish  abstain  from  the  use  of  it  ? 

*  In  which  more  than  one  hundred  persons  lest  their  lives,  through  the  infln- 
ence  of  liquor  on  one  man.  4  12* 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [148 

If  the  ministers  of  those  churches,  when  they  make  their  re- 
turns to  the  various  ecclesiastical  bodies  with  which  they  are  con- 
nected, will  answer  the  above  questions  ;  or  the  friends  of  Tem- 
perance will  answer  them  with  regard  to  any  particular  county, 
or  any  number  of  parishes,  in  the  public  papers,  or  by  letter  to 
the  subscriber,  they  will  promote  the  cause  of  Temperance,  and 
perform  an  important  service  to  the  community. 

Justin   Edwards, 
Cor.  Sec.  Am.  Temp.  Society." 

In  consequence  of  the  above,  one  man  writes,  that  the  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  town  in  which  he  lives  is  about  thirty-six  hun- 
dred ;  the  number,  over  twelve  years  of  age  who  abstain  from  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit,,  about  sixteen  hundred  ;  and  the  number  who 
belong  to  the  Temperance  Society,  about  twelve  hundred.  Of 
the  sixty  persons  who,  at  the  close  of  1830,  were  members  of  the 
Temperance  Society,  but  not  hopefully  pious,  more  than  half  have 
since  become  so. 

Another  man  states,  that  of  about  fifteen  hundred  souls  in  his 
parish,  he  should  think  that  three  fourths  abstain  from  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit;  that  from  those  three  fourths  more  than  seventy 
made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  were  admitted  to  the  church 
in  one  day,  while  from  the  other  fourth  there  were  only  three : 
and  that  as  many,  lacking  two,  have  been  admitted  to  the  church 
during  the  past  year,  as  for  twenty  years  before. 

Another  man  writes,  that  in  his  parish,  about  two  fifths  of  the 
population  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit ;  that  during  the 
past  year  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  have  become  hopefully 
devoted  to  God ;  and,  although  as  well  acquainted  with  them  as 
any  man  in  the  place,  he  knows  of  but  two,  who  had  not  previous- 
ly given  up  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  As  a  general  thing,  he  says, 
all  who  appeared  to  experience  the  power  of  the  gospel  were 
from  the  ranks  of  Temperance.  Others,  in  some  cases,  appeared 
to  become  almost  christians,  who  were  in  the  habit  of  using  a 
little  ardent  spirit,  but  they  have  gone  back;  and  the  impression 
among  those  who  understand  their  case  is,  this  habit  was  the  cause 
of  their  failing  of  the  grace  of  life.  Within  a  year  and  a  half 
there  have  been  admitted  to  the  church,  or  are  now  on  probation 
for  admission  one  hundred  and  thirty ;  being  a  greater  number 
than  had  been  added  to  it  for  twenty  years  before  ;  and  nearly  all 
were  from  the  two  fifths  who  had  renounced  the  use  of  strong 
drink. 

Another  man  states,  that  in  his  parish  about  two  thirds  of  the 
people  use  no  ardent  spirit ;  that  during  the  past  year  about  thirty 
have  become  hopefully  pious,  and  all  from  those  who  had  adopted 
the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors.  Others 
had  their  attention  arrested,  and  for  a  time  inquired  with  deep 


149J  FIFTH    REPORT.— 1S32.  3'J 

anxiety  what  they  should  do  to  be  saved.     But   they   hare  all 
again  become  careless,  and  are  now  stupid  in  sin. 

Another  man  states,  that  of  more  than  forty,  'and  another  that 
of  more  than  four  hundred,  who  have  apparently  passed  from 
death  unto  life,  there  was  net  one  who  was  not  a  friend  to  the 
Temperance  cause. 

Another  man,  who,  since  October  1830,  has  visited  three  hundred 
towns  in  which  special  efforts  have  been  made  for  the  promotion 
of  temperance,  states,  that  of  those,  who,  in  September,  1S30, 
were  not  hopefully  pious,  but  belonged  to  temperance  societies, 
six-tenths  profess,  since  that  time,  to  have  devoted  themselves  to 
God ;  and  that  of  those  who  did  not  belong  to  such  societies,  an;! 
have  since  become  hopefully  pious,  eight-tenths  have  immediately 
united  with  them.  He  also  states,  that  of  those  three  hundred 
towns,  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  have  been  visited  with  the  spe- 
cial influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  that  he  has  witnessed  cases,  not 
a  few,  in  which  persons  who  had  been  swearers,  sabbath-breakers, 
&.C  have  joined  a  Temperance  Society,  and  soon  have,  for  the 
first  time  in  their  lives,  been  heard  inquiring  what  they  should  do 
to  be  saved ;  and  that  he  has  himself  known  of  more  than  one 
hundred  persons,  who  had  been  drunkards,  who  have  been  re- 
claimed, and  are  now  consistent  members  of  christian  churches. 

He  also  mentions  two  other  facts  which  deserve  to  be  record- 
ed, viz.  that  he  has  seen  but  few  professors  of  religion  who  oppos- 
ed temperance  societies,  but  who  either  made,  sold  or  drank  ar- 
dent spirit;  and  that  he  has  never  known  an  intemperate  man 
who  gave  up  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  but  who  continued  to  drink 
wine,  beer,  or  cider,  who  did  not  perpetuate  his  intemperance,  and 
ultimately  turn  back  to  his  former  habits  of  using  ardent  spirit. 
These  facts  deserve  to  be  remembered,  and  especially  the  last. 
The  disease  of  drunkenness,  if  not  fed  with  intoxicating  drink,  will 
sleep,  and  not  afflict  him  who  has  contracted  it — but  if  fed,  even 
with  fermented  drinks,  will  continue  to  rage,  will  ordinarily  increase, 
and  its  deluded  victim  may  expect  to  die  a  drunkard.  And  this 
will  be  the  case,  if  he  begins,  though  it  may  have  been  years  since 
he  ceased  to  use  it.  There  is  no  safety  but  in  entire  and  perpe- 
tual abstinence  from  the  use  of  every  thing  which  intoxicates. 
Those  friends,  therefore,  and  all  who  urge  such  persons  to  use  in 
any  degree  either  fermented  liquor,  or  distilled,  take  the  course 
to  destroy  them.  And  numerous  are  the  cases  where  the  result 
has  been  speedy  death.  A  drunkard  ceased  to  use  intoxicating 
drink,  and  was,  as  every  drunkard,  should  he  take  a  similar  course, 
will  be,  a  sober  man.  He  continued  so,  for  years,  till  urged  by 
a  pretended  friend  to  take  a  tea-spoon  full  a  day  in  some  restora- 
tive bitters.  He  did,  and  was  soon  again  a  drunkard,  raging  in 
all  the  madness  of  the  delirium  tremens.     Another,  by  abstaining 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [150 

in  a  similar  manner,  was  a  sober  man,  till  his  mother  urged  him  to 
take  a  little  porter  ;  and  told  him,  when  he  refused,  that  it  would  not 
hurt  him,  and  pressed  him,  till  he  complied  ;  and  from  that  day 
she  was  doomed,  as  if  in  righteous  judgment,  to  see  her  son  a 
confirmed  sot.  Can  a  man  take  coals  into  his  bosom,  and  his 
clothes  not  be  burnt?  as  well  might  a  man  put  a  match  to  gun- 
powder, and  not  expect  an  explosion,  as  to  throw  alcohol  into  the 
stomach  of  a  drunkard,  or  one  that  has  been  such,  and  not  expect 
that  it  will  take  fire.  Water,  pure,  cool  water,  and  unstimulating 
food  and  drinks,  are  the  only  safeguard  against  his  being  con- 
sumed. 

With  such  facts,  and  numerous  others  of  a  similar  kind  which 
are  now  before  the  community,  can  any  one  doubt  as  to  the  course 
of  duty  and  of  safety  ?  or  whether  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a 
drink,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  is  an  immorality  of  a  high  and  aggrava- 
ted character  ;  altogether  inconsistent  with  a  profession  of  the  chris- 
tian religion  ;  at  war  alike  with  the  spiritual  good  of  man  and  with 
the  glory  of  his  Maker  ?  Suppose  that  in  the  towns  above  referred 
to,  the  proportion  of  the  people  who  do  not  use  ardent  spirit  is  as 
stated  by  the  writers  of  the  letters,  who  lived  among  them,  and 
had  as  good  an  opportunity  as  any  others  to  judge  correctly  on  the 
subject — how  shall  we  account  for  the  fact,  that,  in  one  case,  from 
one  quarter  of  the  people,  but  three  professed  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  while  from  the  other  three  quarters  there  were  more  than 
seventy ;  being  more  than  twenty  to  one  ?  and  in  another  case 
where  two-fifths  of  the  people  abstained  from  the  use  of  ardent 
spirit,  how  shall  we  account  for  the  fact  that  among  the  three-fifths 
who  did  not  abstain,  not  five  appeared  to  become  pious,  while 
among  the  two-fifths  that  did  abstain,  there  appeared  to  be  more 
than  a  hundred  ?  How  shall  we  account  for  the  facts  of  thirty 
becoming  hopefully  pious  in  one  district,  and  forty  in  another,  and 
four  hundred  in  another,  who  had  espoused  the  temperance  cause, 
and  not  one  who  had  not,  without  drawing  the  conclusion,  that  ar- 
dent spirit,  in  all  its  influences,  is  hostile  to  the  interests  of  the  soul, 
and  tends  strongly  to  ruin  it  forever  ?  The  facts  are  so  numerous, 
and  so  striking  by  which  this  is  illustrated,  as  to  force  the  convic- 
tion upon  every  attentive  observer.  And  the  number  is  rapidly 
increasing,  who  cannot  be  persuaded  that  men  who  understand  the 
nature  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  and  its  effects,  and  yet  con- 
tinue in  it,  can,  while  they  do  this,  give  credible  evidence  that  they 
are  good  men.  And  nothing  now  hinders  this  conviction  from  he- 
coming  universal,  so  much  as  the  fact  that  there  are  some  church 
members  who  still  continue  in  the  traffic.  Yet  <o  great  is  the 
that  notwithstanding  their  connection  with  the  church,  the  convic- 
tion i>:>  pervading  the  whole  community,  that  they,  in  viol 


151]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  41 

only  of  the  divine  law,  but  of  their  profession,  regard  money  more 
than  God. 

Certain  it  is,  whether  they  know  it  or  not,  that  few  men  in  the 
community  are  doing  so  much  for  the  destruction  of  souls  as  those 
professors  of  religion  who  continue  in  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit. 
A  young  man,  who  had  been  awakened  to  a  deep  conviction  of  his 
guilt  as  a  sinner,  who  was  in  great  distress,  and  anxiously  inquir- 
ing what  he  should  do  to  be  saved,  recollected  that  he  had  before 
banished  such  feelings,  by  the  use  of  spirituous  liquor.  In  his 
agony,  he  made  his  way  to  the  place  where  it  was  sold — procur- 
ed it,  and  drank  it.  His  distress  abated.  His  eyes  seemed  to  be 
so  enlightened  that  he  could  see  that  his  former  distress  was  de- 
lusion. A  scoffer  came  in.  and  began  to  ridicule  him  for  hav- 
ing, as  he  had  heard,  been  serious.  The  young  man  denied  it, 
ridiculed  the  idea ;  and  has  apparently  been  in  a  state  of  moral 
death  ever  since. 

Another  young  man,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  freely  using  ar- 
dent spirit,  was  at  one  time  tormented  with  the  idea,  that  his  wife, 
who  was  anxious  for  her  salvation,  was  in  danger  of  becoming 
pious.  He  opposed  her,  and  opposed  all  her  efforts  to  secure 
eternal  life.  He  strove,  by  all  means  in  his  power,  to  banish  seri- 
ous impressions  from  her  mind.  He  succeeded  ;  and  was  permit- 
ted again  to  hear  her,  like  himself,  cry  Peace,  peace,  when  Jeho- 
vah said,  "  There  is  no  peace."  He  was  induced,  not  long  after, 
to  give  up  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  His  mind  soon  became 
solemn,  and  he  was  deeply  anxious  for  his  own  salvation.  His 
wife  opposed  him  ;  but  he  was  too  much  in  earnest  to  be  hindered. 
He  sought  the  Lord  while  he  was  to  be  found — called  upon  him 
while  he  was  near — forsook,  as  he  believes,  every  false  way, 
and  turned  heartily  unto  the  Lord,  who  had  mercy  upon  him, 
and  abundantly  pardoned.  He  is  now  rejoicing  in  hope,  and  is 
exceedingly  anxious  that  his  wife  too,  may  become  partaker  of  the 
same  great  salvation.  She,  however,  remains  as  he  once  wished 
to  have  her ;  and  whether  the  separation,  which  appears  to  have 
been  begun,  is  to  continue  and  increase,  till  a  great  gulph  opens 
between  them,  and  is  eternal,  remains  yet  to  be  determined.  A 
strong  and  permanent  conviction,  however,  rests  upon  his  mind, 
made  apparently  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  had  he  not  ceased  to  use 
the  drunkard's  poison,  which  once  excited  him  to  violent  hostility  to 
the  truth,  and  unceasing  opposition  to  those  who  embraced  it,  he 
never  had  experienced  its  illuminating  and  purifying  power.  Nor 
is  the  connection  between  abstinence  and  the  use  of  strong  drink 
confined  to  this  country.  The  British  and  Foreign  Temperance 
Society,  with  the  Bishop  of  London  at  its  head,  and  composed  of 
men  whom  no  one  can  justly  accuse  of  enthusiasm,  say  in  their  ' 
Report,  "  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  effects  of  obviously  exces- 

4* 


42  AMERICAN    TEMPEHANXE    SOCIETY.  [152 

sive  drinking.  The  habitual  use  of  such  portions  of  liquor  as 
have  no  apparent  effect  upon  the  capability  for  ordinary  occupa- 
tions, maintains,  in  multitudes  of  our  fellow  countrymen,  a  contin- 
ued excitement,  which  sets  them  free  from  effectual  consciousness 
of  responsibility  for  every  action,  and  renders  impressions  of  un- 
easiness, regarding  their  spiritual  state,  transient  and  inoperative. 

"  But,  in  many  instances,  to  which  the  Committee  refer  with  pe- 
culiar satisfaction,  persons  unaccustomed  to  any  observance  of  the 
duties  of  religion,  having  been  induced  to  join  temperance 
societies,  have  at  first  become  thoughtful  hearers,  and  ultimately 
joyful  and  sincere  receivers  of  Christian  truth. 

"  Your  Committee  indulge,  indeed,  the  highest  hope  that  this  In- 
stitution will  be  the  honored  instrument  in  removing  from  the 
human  mind  a  general  and  fatal  delusion,  which  most  powerfully 
opposes  the  reception,  and  obstructs  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
of  Salvation." 

Even  wicked  men  now  understand,  and  confess,  that  between 
the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  a  profession  of  the  christian  religion, 
there  is  a  total  hostility.     They  quote  the  fact  of  church  members 
continuing  in  the  traffic,  and  thus  being  accessory  to  the  pauper- 
ism, crimes,  and  wretchedness  of  the  community,  as  conclusive 
proof  that  they  are  no  better  than  others  :  they  state  that  they  will 
ruin   men,   (and  on  their  own  principles,)   for  both  worlds,   for 
money.     And  does  not  the  excuse  which  such  men  often  make, 
"  that  if  they  did  not  sell  rum,  they  would  not  sell  so  many  other 
tilings,"  countenance   the   idea  ?     What  is  their  excuse,  but  an 
acknowledgment  that  their  object  of  supreme  regard  is  money? 
Your  church  member,   says  one,  is  making  more  paupers   and 
more  criminals  than ,  any  other  man  in  the  town  :  and  the   great 
difficulty,  in  many  cases  with  this  assertion,  is,  it  is  true.     For  his 
own  profit  he  is  making  paupers,  says  another,  and  I  have  to  sup- 
port them.     He  is  exciting  men  to  commit  crimes,  and  I  have  to 
pay  for  the  prosecution  of  them.     He  is  taking  from  the  very 
father,  whose  children  come  from  day  to  day  to  my  door  and  beg 
for  bread.     He  is  covering  that  amiable  woman,  and  her  lovely 
children,  with  gloom  and  wretchedness,  more  desolating  and  more 
relentless  than  the  grave.    For  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  he  will  doom 
that  more  than   widowed  mother  to   the  more  than  death-like 
agony  of  seeing  her  husband,  not  laid  motionless  by  the  hand  of 
her  heavenly  Father,  bui  staggering   homeward   under  a  living 
death,  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  a  brother  in  the  church,  of  which 
she  is  herself  a  member;  and  who,  before  heaven  and  earth,  has 
covenanted  to  do  her  husband  good,  and  good  only,  as  he  has  op- 
portunity.    And  he  will  doom  her  more  than  fatherless  children, 
not  to  stand  and  weep  over  their  father's  corpse,  but  to  Hee  for 
their  lives,   lest,    by  their    father's  hand,  they  should  be    made 


153]  FIFTH   REPORT. — 1832.  43 

corpses ;  and  to  leave  their  mother,  their  last  earthly   hope,  to 
be,   they  fear,  as  mothers  often   have   been,  murdered   by  the 
hands   of  her   husband.      Are    such   men,    it  is  asked,    Chris- 
tians?    Are  these  the  men  who  give  up  all  for  Jesus  Christ? 
And  yet  such  men  there  are  in  American  churches — who,  if  they 
do  not  sell  their  Master  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  do  sell  his  dis- 
ciples, to  more  than  the  agonies  of  crucifixion,  for  one  ;  and  with- 
out manifesting  even  as  much  compunction  as  did  Judas,  when  he 
went  away  and  hanged  himself.     Are  these  men  the  friends  of 
him  who  said,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it,  unto  one  of  the 
least  of  these  my  disciples,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me  ? "    For  a  piece 
of  money  will  they  thus  agonize  the  Saviour  in  the  person  of  his 
disciples,  and  yet  profess  to  be  his  friends  ?     Are  these  the  men 
whose  grand  object  is  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  good  will  to 
men  ? "     Who  can  believe  it  ?     Nor  are  such  feelings,  in  view  of 
these  abominations  confined  to  men  who  make  no  profession  of 
religion.     The  consistent  Christian  beholds  them,  and  from  the 
heart,  cries,  "  Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do."     But  as  he  prays,  his  voice  is  choked  by  the  recollection 
that  they  do  know  ;  or  if  they  do  not  shut  their  eyes,  would 
know ;  and  if  they  do  not,  it  is  because   "  he  that  doth  evil  hateth 
the  light,  neither  cometh  to  the  light,  lest  his  deeds  should  be 
reproved."     And  as  voluntary  ignorance   will  not  for  a  moment 
screen  them  from  the  righteous  indignation  of  the   father  of  the 
fatherless,  and  the  judge  of  the  widows,  they  are  ready  to  say,  "  O 
that  my  head  were  waters,  and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that 
I  might  weep  day  and  night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughters  of  my 
people."     Nor  is  their  grief  assuaged,  or  their  righteous  indigna- 
tion abated,  by  the  cold,  heartless  plea,  "  If  I  should  not  do  it, 
somebody  else  would  " — a  plea  that  might  fit  a  slave-dealer  or  an 
assassin,  but  not  a  disciple  of  him  who  said,  "  If  a  man  love  me 
let  him  keep  my  commands. — He  that  loveth  houses  or  land,  gold  or 
silver,  more  than  me,  is  not  worthy  of  me — and  he  that  forsaketh 
not  all  that  he  hath,   cannot  be  my  disciple. — He  that  findeth  his 
life  shall  lose  it,  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake  and  the 
gospel's,  shall  keep  it  unto  life  eternal." 

The  Committee  know  of  no  principle  of  the  gospel  that  will 
justify  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  in  permitting  their  members,  who 
have  opportunity  to  understand  this  subject,  to  continue  this  work 
of  death.  From  all  parts  of  the  country  the  lamentation  now 
comes,  and  often  with  tears,  that  the  greatest  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  the  Temperance  Reformation — of  the  success  of  the  Gos- 
pel, and  the  salvation  of  men — are  those  members  of  the  church, 
who  still  sell  ardent  spirit.       And  if  the  church  shall  continue  to 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [154 

admit  persons  who  are  engaged  in  this  traffic,  as  members,  or 
connive  at  it,  by  suffering  those  who  are  already  in  the  church  to 
continue  it,  she  will  herself  assume  the  responsibility,  and  be  load- 
ed with  the  guilt  of  perpetuating  intemperance  and  its  abomina- 
tions to  the  end  of  the  world. 

If  the  principles  of  revelation  and  the  facts  which  God,  in  his 
providence  and  by  his  grace  is  developing,  as  those  who  abstain  from 
all  connection  with  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  in  greater  and  greater 
numbers  become  devoted  to  his  service,  and  others,  amidst  all  the 
triumphs  of  his  grace,  are  almost  uniformly  passed  by;  and  if  the 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  ten  times  as  many  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  one  class  are  apparently  renewed  in  the  temper  of  their 
minds  as  of  the  other,  do  not  awaken  and  move  the  members  of 
the  church  to  do  their  duty, — they  would  not  be  persuaded  though 
one  should  rise  from  the  dead.  And  should  the  temperance  re- 
formation cease  to  move  onward,  and  the  burning  tide  of  desola- 
tion again  roll  back  upon  us,  let  them  not  forget  that  they  are  the 
cause.  Should  their  own  members,  in  greater  numbers  apostatize, 
become  abandoned,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  depart,  and  their  children 
die  drunkards,  let  them  not  forget  they  are  themselves  the  cause. 
Should  the  dragon,  that  old  serpent,  again  renew  his  vigor,  and 
pour  out  in  greater  abundance  his  poison — party  spirit  in  our  land 
continue  to  rage,  and  become  a  thousand  fold  more  malignant, 
and  burning — let  them  not  forget  that  they  are  furnishing  the  mate- 
rials, and  kindling  the  flames.  Should  they  rise  even  into  fury,  and 
burn  with  increasing  fierceness,  till  the  bands  of  social  order  burst 
asunder  and  the  foundations  of  society  dissolve,  let  them  not  for- 
get that  they  are  the  cause.  And  should  death  on  his  pale  horse 
pass  through  every  place,  and  destruction  follow,  the  universe 
would  pronounce  it  just.  They  that  sow  the  wind  shall  reap  the 
whirlwind  ;  and  they  that  sow  death  shall  reap  also  death. 

These  views,  wherever  the  means  are  used,  are  extending 
through  the  country.  Many  churches  utterly  refuse  to  admit  any 
persons  as  members  who  continue  to  traffic  in  ardent,  spirit,  or  to 
allow  this  in  any  of  their  members.  They  do  not  believe  that  they 
can  allow  it,  without  violating  the  known  will  of  God.  Nor  is  this, 
as  some  have  supposed,  adopting  a  new  rule  of  discipline  :  it  is  only 
applying  the  rule  laid  down  in  the  Bible,  correctly  to  this  case,  viz. 
that  those  shall  not  be  admitted  to  the  church,  or  suffered  to  con- 
tinue in  it,  who  continue  perseveringly  in  the  practice  of  open  im- 
morality. That  being  accessory  to  the  production  of  the  pauperism, 
crime,  sickness,  insanity,  death  and  destruction,  which  are  occa- 
sioned by  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit,  is  an  immorality,  is  by  the  Bi- 
ble forever  settled.     And  when  this  subject  is  presented,  in  the 


155]  FIFTH  RE POUT. 1832,  45 

spirit  of  the  Bible,  and  illustrated  by  the  manifestations. of  provi- 
dence, it  is  felt  to  be  an  immorality  of  a  high  and  aggravated  char- 
acter, by  every  impartial,  candid  and  sober  man.  The  truth  on  this 
subject  commends  itself  to  the  conscience,  and  moves  strongly  on 
the  heart.  During  the  past  year  this  subject  has  been  presented, 
by  our  secretary,  to  fourteen  of  the  churches  in  Boston  ;  and  eight 
of  those  churches  have  now  in  them,  no  members  who  are  engag- 
ed in  this  traffic ;  viz.  Bowdoin  Street,  Green  Street,  Pine  Street, 
and  Salem  Churches ;  the  first  and  second  Baptist  Churches,  the 
Mariner's  Church,  and  the  Congregational  Church  in  South  Bos- 
ton. Several  churches  in  Salem,  Beverly,  and  various  other 
places,  making  in  all  more  than  two  hundred,  are  now  free.  And 
when  the  church  as  a  body  shall  treat  the  traffic  in  its  true  charac- 
ter, it  will  be  stamped  as  a  gross  immorality  throughout  the  christian 
world.  Zion  will  then  arise  and  shine,  her  light  being  come,  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  beaming  upon  her. 

A  city  society  has  also  been  formed  in  Boston,  during  the  past 
year  ;  and  societies  formed  or  enlarged  in  fourteen  different  con- 
gregations, embracing  more  than  three  thousand  members.  A  so- 
ciety of  young  men  has  also  been  formed  on  the  plan  of  entire  ab- 
stinence from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  and  the  traffic  in  it,  embracing 
more  than  500  members.*  Three  State  societies  have  also  been 
formed,  during  the  past  year,  viz.  in  Maine,  Rhode-Island,  and 
Illinois.  There  is  now  a  State  society  in  each  of  the  United  States, 
except  Alabama,  Louisiana  and  Missouri ;  and  it  is  hoped  that, 
before  the  close  of  another  year,  there  will  be  one  in  every  State 
in  the  Union. 

In  the  State  of  New  York  there  has  been  added  to  temperance 
societies,  during  the  year,  more  than  50,000  members.  In  several 
counties  the  increase  has  been  more  than  200  per  cent.  They 
have  printed  350,000  circulars,  and  sent  them  to  every  family  in 
the  State,  inviting  each  member,  who  has  come  to  years  of  under- 
standing, to  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  to  unite  with 
a  temperance  society.  They  have  also  printed  and  sent  to  all  parts 
of  the  State,  100,000  constitutions  for  family  temperance  societies, 
in  the  following  form,  viz. 

"  This  society  shall  be  composed  of  the  heads  of  this  family, 
and  such  other  members  as  shall  hereunto  subscribe  their  names. 
In  subscribing  the  constitution  we  pledge  ourselves  to  the  follow- 
ing rules,  viz. 

I .  We  will  use  no  ardent  spirits  ourselves,  nor  suffer  the  use  of 
them  in  our  families,  nor  present  them  to  our  friends,  or  those  in 
our  employment,  unless  in  cases  of  extreme  necessity,  for  medical 
purposes. 

*  Constant  additions  are  also  made  to  the  Society. 

*  13 


46  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [156 

2.  Those  of  us  who  are,  or  shall  hereafter  become  heads  of 
families,  solemnly  agree  to  teach  our  household  the  principles  of 
entire  abstinence,  and  use  our  best  endeavors  to  obtain  their  signa- 
tures to  this  constitution. 

3.  A  copy  of  this  constitution,  shall  be  pasted  in  our  family  Bi- 
ble, to  which  our  children,  if  any,  shall  be  often  pointed  as  the  act 
of  their  parents ;  and  we  solemnly  enjoin  it  on  them,  as  they  revere 
our  memories,  sacredly  to  regard  these  our  sentiments." 

They  have  expended  in  this  benevolent  work,  during  the  vear. 
about  $4,500. 

The  following  facts,  mentioned  in  their  last  Report,  deserve  here 
to  be  recorded.  In  the  town  of  Gates,  there  are  sixty-nine  gro- 
ceries, and  twenty-six  taverns,  where  ardent  spirits  are  sold.  A 
single  magistrate  in  Rochester,  during  the  past  year  has  committed 
to  the  common  jail  one  hundred  sixty-two  persons,  and  a  hundred 
and  twenty -five  of  them  were  habitual  drunkards,  or  committed 
their  crimes  in  a  state  of  intoxication. 

Within  the  bounds  of  Ira  and  Cato  Temperance  Society,  there 
are  seventy-five  drunkards,  and  twelve  have  apparently  been  re- 
formed. 

In  the  state  prison  of  Auburn,  are  six  hundred  seventeen  con- 
victs, who,  with  reference  to  their  former  habits,  may  be  classed 
as  follows,  namely :  intemperate  persons  five  hundred  sixty-six  ; 
moderate  drinkers  one  hundred  thirty-two ;  under  the  influence 
of  spirits  when  their  crimes  were  committed,  three  hundred  forty- 
six  )  discharged  during  the  past  year  one  hundred  thirty-three,  of 
whom  ninety-five  had  been  drunkards. 

Before  the  formation  of  the  Hector  Temperance  Society,  more 
than  8,500  gallons  of  ardent  spirit  were  annually  consumed  in 
the  town.  Eleven  distilleries  were  in  operation.  Since  that  time 
the  consumption  of  ardent  spirit  has  diminished  nine-tenths. 
Nine  of  the  distilleries,  have  been  stopped,  and  two  are  now 
struggling  for  a  doubtful  existence.     At  the  commencement  of 

CO         O 

the  temperance  reformation,  there  was  scarcely  grain  enough 
raised  in  the  town  for  the  supply  of  its  inhabitants ;  and  the  last 
year  it  is  supposed  that  60,000  bushels  were  sold  for  foreign 
consumption.  Such  has  been  the  effect  of  abstinence  from  ar- 
dent spirit,  in  only  a  part  of  the  people. 

In  West  Lansing  there  were  11,000  gallons  of  spirits  consumed 
in  1831  ;  seventy-one  drunkards;  .$600  paid  for  the  support  of 
paupers,  and  seven-eighths  caused  by  intemperance.  There  are 
now  five  hundred  and  twenty-six  members  of  Temperance  Socie- 
ties, and  nine  drunkards  have  been  reformed. 

In  Lockport  nine  merchants  have  abandoned  the  sale  of  spirits : 
one  of  whom  formerly  sold  20,000  gallons  in  a  year. 

In  Fishkill  Landing,  the  Mattewan  Factory  store  formerly  sold 


157]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  47 

two  hundred  barrels  of  beer  in  a  year:  that  factory,  and  the  one 
at  Glenham,  employing  a  capital  of  $250,000,  now  carry  on  their 
business  without  either  spirit  or  beer. 

In  Clintonville,  the  iron  forge  where  seventeen  and  a  half  tons 
of  iron  are  maufactured  in  a  week,  the  extensive  rolling  mil!, 
chain  and  nail  factories  are  all  carried  on  without  spirits.  In 
Clintonville  twenty-five  persons,  most  of  them  husbands  and 
fathers,  who  were  intemperate,  have  renounced  the  use  of  strong 
drink  ;  and  three-fourths  of  the  harvest  the  past  year  was  gather- 
ed without  the  use  of  spirit.  Cases  of  assault  and  battery,  and 
petty  lawsuits,  which  before  were  of  almost  daily  occurrence,  are 
now  seldom  known. 

In  Cherry  Valley,  before  the  Temperance  Society  was  formed 
30,000  gallons  of  spirits  were  sold  in  a  year;  in  1831,8000; 
and  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  only  6000.  Of  that,  4000  gal- 
lons were  retailed  in  small  measure,  at  the  rate,  it  is  supposed,  of 
$2  per  gallon,  making  $8000 ;  to  which  add  2000  gallons  at 
3l£  cents  per  gallon,  and  we  have  $8,625  paid  out  the  last  year 
for  ardent  spirit,  notwithstanding  the  use  of  it  had  been  diminish- 
ed more  than  fourfold.  For  common  schools,  they  paid  the  last 
year  $1310.  Four  districts  were  not  able  to  have  any  school. 
Their  town  and  county  taxes  were  $2177 ;  their  ardent  spirit 
tax,  notwithstanding  its  diminution,  $8,625. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Clarksville  Temperance  Society  says, 
there  are  in  town  three  distilleries,  manufacturing  annually  60,000 
gallons  ;  and  for  the  greater  accommodation  of  the  people,  eleven 
taverns  and  eight  grog-shops  are  licensed  to  vend  it,  making  one 
to  every  thirty-two  voters  in  the  town. 

In  Buffalo,  as  ascertained  by  the  Young  Men's  Temperance 
Society,  there  are  more  than  one  hundred  places  where  ardent 
spirit  is  sold,  and  more  than  six  hundred  intemperate  persons. 
Nineteen  twentieths  of  the  pauperism  and  crimes  appear  to 
spring  from  intemperance  ;  and  a  great  majority  of  the  male 
adults  who  have  died,  in  the  last  ten  years,  were  intemperate  men. 

In  Hamburg,  with  about  3500  inhabitants,  three  hundred  barrels 
of  whiskey  are  drunk  in  a  year ;  and  there  are  one  hundred  drunk- 
ards. 

In  Penn-yan,  with  a  population  of  about  1500,  there  are  four- 
teen stores  in  which  no  ardent  spirit  is  sold.  Two  hardware 
merchants,  three  saddle  and  harness  makers,  one  hatter,  eight 
lawyers,  five  physicians,  fifteen  master  mechanics,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  twelve  heads  of  families  are  members  of  temperance 
societies.  Of  one  hundred  and  seven,  who  have  united  with  the 
church,  eighty-three  had  previously  to  their  hopeful  conversion 
abstained  entirely  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  Nevertheless, 
three  stores,  four  taverns,  and  eleven  groceries  sell  ardent  spirit  j 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [158 

and  there  are  in  the  village  two  hundred  and  twelve  daily  moder- 
ate drinkers,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  immoderate ; 
fifty  of  the  latter  are  employed  on  the  canal ;  one  hundred  thirty- 
seven  are  permanent  residents,  and  sixty  of  them  habitual  drunk- 
ards;  thirty-five  are  fathers,  and  four  are  mothers;  and  seventy- 
seven  are  occasional  drunkards. 

In  Starkey,  out  of  forty-two  deaths  of  all  persons  both  old  and 
young,  eight,  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  whole,  were  occasioned 
by  drinking.  The  tax  for  pauperism  occasioned  directly  by  in- 
temperance was,  in  1830,  $'260  96;  and  as  an  equivalent  for 
the  privilege  of  making  these  paupers,  they  received  by  way  of 
excise  from  the  grocers  $70,  less  than  one-third  enough  to  sup- 
port the  paupers  which  they  made.  The  other  two-thirds  was 
a  burden  upon  the  public.  Is  this  fair  ?  is  it  just,  that  grocers,  for 
their  own  profit,  should  tax  the  whole  community  ?  In  diat  coun- 
ty it  is  supposed  there  are  eight  hundred  drunkards,  and  eleven 
hundred  persons  who  do  not  use  the  drunkard's  drink.  The  profit 
of  making  these  drunkards  is  enjoyed  by  the  grocers ;  and  is  it 
right  that  others,  in  this  land  of  liberty  and  equal  rights,  should  be 
taxed  for  the  support  of  them  ? 

In  Henderson,  with  three  hundred  and  fifty-seven  voters, 
$17,104  have  within  three  years  been  received  by  grocers  and 
others  for  ardent  spirit ;  sixty-two  persons  are  drunkards, 
and  nine-tenths  of  the  poor  tax  is  occasioned  by  intemper- 
ance. Would  it  not  be  just  that  those  who  have  the  profits  of 
making  diese  drunkards  should  have  also  the  burden  of  support- 
ing them  ?  And  should  they,  and  their  families  have  to  endure 
all  the  wretchedness  which  they  occasion  to  other  families,  would 
they  find  it  a  profitable  business  ?  or  be  ready  to  complain,  if  they 
could  not  be  licensed  to  pursue  it  ? 

In  Lewis,  no  person  has  a  license  to  sell  ardent  spirit ;  and 
drunkards,  if  they  will  purchase  the  deadly  drink,  are  obliged  to 
go  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  to  obtain  it.  How  would  the  foun- 
tains of  sorrow  be  dried  up,  and  ten  thousand  hearts  leap  for  joy, 
were  this  the  case  throughout  our  country.  And  were  there  none 
in  the  land  wicked  enough  to  sell  it  as  a  drink,  how  many  would 
be  saved  from  the  drunkard's  grave,  and  from  the  fire  which  no 
man  can  quench. 

And  is  it  not  criminal — exceedingly  criminal,  for  the  sake  of 
money  to  be  knowingly  and  actively  instrumental  in  preventing  the 
salvation  of  such  men  ?  In  raising  up  others  like  them,  and  in  per- 
oetuating  their  guilt  and  their  anguish  to  endless  ages  ? 

The  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  seems  to  be  marked,  even  in  this 
life,  with  decisive  indications  of  divine  abhorrence  ;  and  with  pre- 
monitions of  sure  and  awful  retribution  in  the  life  to  come.  In 
"»         *  proportion  of  all  the  families  that  have  been  accustomed  to 


159]  FIFTH   REPORT. — 1832.  49 

deal  out  this  poison  to  others,  one  or  more  of  the  members,  often 
the  head,  and  in  many  cases  a  majority  of  the  members,  have  died 
drunkards. 

In  Stephentown,  N.  Y.  there  have  been  fifty-four  tavern-keepers 
who  sold  ardent  spirit ;  thirty-seven  did  not  succeed  in  business  ; 
sixteen  are  living,  intemperate ;  and  four  have  died  drunkards. 

In  Petersburgh  there  have  been  fifty-four  inn-keepers ;  five  suc- 
ceeded in  their  business,  and  of  the  forty-nine  who  did  not,  eleven 
died  drunkards. 

In  Sandlake  there  have  been,  in  twenty  years,  twenty-nine  inn- 
keepers ;  seven  made  money,  and  five  became  drunkards. 

In  Brunswick  there  have  been  forty  tavern-keepers,  twenty-two 
of  them  became  intemperate,  and  four  died  drunkards. 

In  Wynants  Kill  and  Albia  there  have  been  twenty-two  ;  and 
nine  of  them  failed  by  intemperance. 

In  Lansingburgh,  of  eighteen  tavern-keepers,  twelve  are  intem- 
perate, or  have  died  drunkards.  Ten  deaths  have  been  occasion- 
ed in  the  town  by  ardent  spirit,  during  the  past  year.  Here  then, 
in  a  single  county,  of  207  tavern-keepers  who  sold  ardent  spirit, 
seventy-nine,  more  than  one-third  the  whole  number,  became  drunk- 
ards themselves.  And  could  we  ascertain  the  number  of  their 
children  who  also  became  drunkards,  and  the  number  of  the  chil- 
dren of  those  who,  notwithstanding  their  business,  remained  sober  ; 
and  how  many  became  drunkards  to  whom  they  sold,  and  how 
many  of  their  children,  and  how  many  will  through  their  instrumen- 
tality ;  and  could  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  prospects  of  these 
persons  in  the  future  world,  we  should  want  no  further  evidence 
that  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  a  business  winch  the 
Lord  hath  cursed.  Not  only  does  it  tend  to  destroy  others,  but 
it  increases  more  than  four-fold  the  prospect  that  it  will  bring  upon 
those  who  pursue  it,  and  their  children,  the  horrors  of  the  second 
death. 

We  rejoice  therefore  to  find  that  there  are  now  more  than  fifty  tav- 
erns in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  which  ardent  spirit  is  not  sold ; 
and  that  there  are  more  than  200,000  members  of  temperance 
societies;  that  more  than  1000  merchants  have  ceased  to  traffic  in 
the  poison ;  and  that  more  than  2000  drunkards  have  ceased  to 
use  intoxicating  drink. 

And  here  the  Committee  would  present  distinctly  to  the  consid- 
eration of  all  sober  men,  the  subject  of  temperance  taverns,  and 
temperance  groceries ;  establishments  conducted  by  men  who  will 
not  consent,  for  the  sake  of  money,  to  poison  and  destroy  their 
fellow  men.  Could  houses  for  the  accommodation  of  the  public, 
be  opened  in  Boston.  Worcester,  Northampton,  Pittsfield,  and  other 

13* 

5 


50  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [160 

principal  places,  on  all  great  roads,  and  especially  in  seaports,  in 
which  the  drunkard's  drink  is  not  sold,  and  no  one  doomed  to  the 
torment  of  witnessing  the  evils  which  invariably  attend  the  use  of 
it,  and  could  such  houses  be  patronized  by  all  friends  of  temper- 
ance, the  comfort  of  travelers  would  be  greatly  promoted,  thou- 
sands be  highly  gratified,  and  a  most  important  service  rendered  to 
the  community.  It  is  indeed  humiliating,  and  to  many  distress- 
ing, that  they  cannot  stop  at  a  public  house,  without  inhaling,  on 
the  threshold,  the  stench  of  the  drink  of  drunkards ;  and  that 
those  places  which  ought  to  be,  and  which  might  be  so  respecta- 
ble, pleasant,  and  useful,  should  be  to  multitudes  the  gate-way  of 
death. 

And  as  to  temperance  groceries,  the  Committee  would  suggest 
whether  it  is  not  the  duty  of  all  friends  of  temperance  to  patronize 
them,  in  preference  to  those  whose  owners  are  aiding  in  perpetu- 
ating intemperance  and  in  demoralizing  and  burdening  the  com- 
munity. Even  if  those  men,  in  consequence  of  the  profit  which 
they  make  on  ardent  spirit  could  afford  to  sell  other  things  at  a 
lower  rate,  those  who  should  purchase,  and  thus,  in  their  estima- 
tion, save  something  by  trading  at  rum  stores,  would  be  aiding,  to 
the  amount  of  what  they  save,  in  perpetuating  drinking  and 
drunkenness,  with  all  their  evils,  throughout  the  community. 
And  as  it  is  a  sin  to  make,  so  it  is  a  sin  to  save  property  in  a  way 
that  is  adapted  to  perpetuate,  and  does  in  fact  tend  to  perpetuate 
mtemperance.  And  if  none  who  submit  to  the  guilty  degradation 
of  aiding  the  drunkard  in  destroying  himself,  or  assisting  others  to 
become  like  him,  should  be  patronized  by  any,  who  do  not  use 
his  poison,  a  mighty  obstruction  to  the  Temperance  Reformation 
would  be  removed,  and  a  much  greater  number  saved  from  tem- 
poral and  eternal  ruin.  The  friends  of  temperance  must  come 
out,  and  be  separate  from  this  iniquity.  They  must  not  by  their 
influence  aid  in  perpetuating  this  mischief,  but  in  causing  it  to 
cease.  In  no  other  way  can  they  escape  the  guilt  of  being  ac- 
cessory to  the  making  of  drunkards,  and  the  danger,  in  the  day 
of  retribution,  of  being  partakers  in  their  plagues. 

Nor  would  this  in  the  least  interfere  with  the  rights  of  others. 
It  would  merely  be  to  abstain  from  conniving  at  iniquity,  and 
from  aiding  in  perpetuating  its  evils ;  which  is  not  only  the  right, 
but  the  duty  of  every  man  in  the  community.  Abstinence,  entire 
abstinence  from  all  known  influence  which  is  adapted  in  its  na- 
ture, and  is  found  by  experiment  to  aid  in  perpetuating  intemper- 
ance, is  the  duty  of  all.  It  is  merely  ceasing  to  do  evil ;  and  just 
in  proportion  as  men  take  this  course,  will  intemperance  lorever 
cease.  Facts,  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  divine  government, 
warrant  this  conclusion,  and  afford  the  greatest  encouragement  to 
aii  friends  of  the  cause  to  persevere  with  increasing  activity  and 


161 J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832.  51 

diligence  till  tins  foe  of  God  and   man   is   banished  from   the 
earth. 

From  the  best  information  which  the  Committee  have  been  able 
to  obtain,  they  are  led  to  conclude  that  more  than  1,500,000  peo- 
ple in  the  United  States  now  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit, 
and  from  the  furnishing  of  it  for  the  use  of  others  ;  that  there  are 
more  than  4000  temperance  societies,  embracing  more  than  500,000 
members;  that  more  than  1500  distilleries  have  been  stopped, 
more  than  4000  merchants  ceased  to  traffic  in  the  poison,  and 
more  than  4,500  drunkards  ceased  to  use  intoxicating  drinks. 
There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  more  than  20,000  persons  are 
now  sober,  who,  had  it  not  been  for  the  temperance  reformation 
would  have  been  sots  ;  and  that  20,000  families  are  now  in  ease 
and  comfort,  with  not  a  drunkard  in  them,  or  one  who  is  becoming 
a  drunkard,  who  would  otherwise  have  been  in  poverty,  or 
cursed  with  a  drunken  inmate ;  that  50,000  children  are  saved 
from  the  blasting  influence  of  drunken  parents,  and  200,000  from 
that  parental  influence,  which  tended  to  make  them  drunkards. 
There  is  also  reason  to  believe  that  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands 
are  members  of  christian  churches,  and  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the 
glory  of  God,  who,  had  they  continued  to  drink,  had  now  been 
without  hope  and  without  God  in  the  world.  There  is  reason  to 
believe  also,  that  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  are  now  im- 
penitent, unbelieving,  and  on  their  way  to  the  second  death,  who, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  sale  and  use  of  ardent  spirit,  had  been 
ripening  for  glory,  and  honor,  and  immortality,  and  eternal  life  ; 
and  that  tens  of  thousands  more  have  passed  the  boundaries  of 
hope,  and  are  weeping  and  wailing,  who,  had  it  not  been  for  this, 
might  have  been  in  heaven.  And  in  view  of  such  things,  shall 
we  be  told,  that  temperance  is  only  a  secular  concern  ?  that  it 
affects  only  the  bodies  of  men,  not  their  souls,  and  is  a  concern 
which  relates  to  time  only,  not  to  eternity  ?  that  it  ought  not  to 
be  discussed  from  the  pulpit,  on  the  sabbath?  Should  Satan 
cause  this  to  be  believed,  he  would  perpetuate  intemperance  to 
the  end  of  the  world.  Shall  the  fires  which  make  this  poison, 
burn  on  the  sabbath,  and  the  use  of  it  tend  to  counteract  all  the 
merciful  designs  of  Jehovah,  in  establishing  that  holy  day  ?  Shall 
Jehovah  be  insulted  by  the  appearance  in  the  sanctuary  of  men 
who  use  it  on  the  sabbath,  and  yet  the  sabbath  not  be  occupied, 
by  light  and  love,  to  abolish  the  use  of  it  ?  Shall  it  cause  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  even  from  the  pulpit,  to  fall  as  upon  a  rock, 
instead  of  being  as  the  rain  and  the  snow  that  come  down  from 
heaven  and  water  the  earth  ;  and  thousands  who  might  be  trees 
of  righteousness  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  to  stand  like  the  heath 
in  the  desert,  not  seeing  good  when  good  comes,  and  yet  the  pul- 
pit be  dumb  ?  or  speak  only  on  week  days,  when  those  who  traf- 


52  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [1C2 

lie  in  it,  have  so  much  to  do  in  furnishing  the  poison*  that  they 
have  no  time,  and  less  inclination  to  hear?  If  Satan  can  cause 
this  to  be  believed,  and  those  who  manufacture,  sell,  and  use  the 
weapons  of  his  warfare,  and  multiply  the  trophies  of  his  victor}' 
not  hear  of  their  sin  on  the  sabbath,  when  God  speaks  to  the  con- 
science ;  or  be  entreated  from  the  pulpit,  his  mercy's  seat,  by  the 
tears  and  blood  of  a  Saviour,  to  flee  from  coming  damnation,  the 
adversary  will  keep  possession  of  his  strong  hold.  Church  mem- 
bers will  garrison  it,  and  provision  it,  and  fight  for  him.  From  the 
communion  table,  he  will  muster  recruits,  and  find  officers,  in 
those  who  distribute  the  elements,  to  fight  his  battles,  perpetuate  his 
warfare,  and  people  with  increasing  numbers  his  dark  domain,  to 
the  end  of  time.  If  we  may  not,  in  this  warfare  fight,  on  the  Lord's 
day,  when  he  himself  goes  forth  to  the  battle,  and  commands  on  the 
field — if  we  may  not  use  his  weapons,  forged  in  heaven  ;  and  from 
the  high  place  of  his  erection,  pour  them  down  thick,  heavy,  and  hot 
upon  the  enemy,  we  may  fight  till  we  die,  and  he  will  esteem  our  iron 
as  straw,  and  our  brass  as  rotten  wood  ;  our  darts  he  will  count  as 
stubble,  and  laugh  at  the  glittering  of  our  spear.  Leviathan  is  not  so 
tamed.  There  is  no  coping  with  him,  but  with  weapons  of  hea- 
venly temper  from  the  armory  of  Jehovah,  on  the  day  when  he 
goes  forth,  and  creation,  at  his  command,  stands  still  to  witness  the 
conflict.  Then  it  is,  as  conscience  kindled  from  above,  blazes, 
and  thunders  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy,  that  he  is  consumed  by 
the  breath  of  the  Almighty,  and  destroyed  by  the  brightness  of  his 
coming. 

Never  was  an  idea  farther  from  the  truth,  than  that  which  rep- 
resents the  Temperance  Reformation  as  only  a  secular  concern, 
affecting  principally  the  body  ;  or  confined  in  its  influence  to  this 
world,  or  to  time  ;  to  be  discussed  only  on  the  week  day,  and  that 
as  a  matter  of  convenience,  expediency,  or  domestic  comfort, 
pecuniary  profit,  or  reputation,  and  respectability.  Its  principal 
influence,  and  that  which  in  importance  eclipses  and  swallows  up 
every  other,  is  upon  the  soul,  and  for  eternity ;  according  to  the 
sentiments  of  the  learned  judge  referred  to — As  much  as  the  soul 
is  worth  more  than  the  body,  as  much  as  eternity  is  longer  than 
time,  so  much  more  important  is  its  influence  on  the  soul  than  on 
the  body,  and  with  regard  to  eternity  than  with  regard  to  time. 
And  till  its  influence  on  the  character,  prospect,  and  destinv  of 
the  soul  for  eternity  shall  be  exhibited  on  the  sabbath,  from  ihe 
pulpit,  by  the  ministers  of  Christ,  to  every  distiller,  and  trafficker, 
and  user  of  the  drunkard's  poison  in  the  land,  who  doe?  not,  on 
account  of  doing  evil,  so  hate  the  light  as  to  refuse  to  come  to  it, 
this  engine  of  death  eternal  will  not  cease  to  operate,  nor  this 
citadel  of  Satan  be  demolished.  Ministers  may  think  that  they 
could  not  be  supported  without  the  avails  of  the  distillery,  and  the 


163]  FIFTH   REPORT. — 1832.  53 

dram-shop,  or  the  countenance  of  those  who  furnish  or  support 
them ;  and  churches  may  think  that  it  is  not  ecclesiastical  for 
them  to  move,  or  for  their  members  to  act  on  the  subject ;  and 
both  may  hope  that  others,  temperance  agents,  or  societies  will 
do  the  work,  and  accomplish  the  object  without  their  assistance, 
and  that  they  had  better  say  nothing,  and  do  nothing,  but  mourn 
in  secret  and  pray ;  though  church  members  continue  to  carry  on 
the  traffic,  and  cause  thousands  eternally  to  die  ;  yet  it  is  not  so. 
No  minister  of  Christ,  in  doing  the  work  of  Christ,  needs  the 
gains  of  ungodliness ;  and  no  church  of  Christ  is  strengthened,  or 
sanctified  by  having  rum-makers,  and  rum-sellers,  and  rum-drink- 
ers for  members.  None  such  formed  the  family  of  the  Saviour, 
the  company  of  his  apostles,  or  any  of  that  bright  constellation, 
who,  in  their  day,  through  faith  and  patience,  entered  in,  and  took 
possession  of  the  promises.  They  were  men  of  another  sort. 
They  could  not  look  up  to  God,  and  pray,  "  Lead  us  not  into 
temptation,"  and  then,  go  away  and  tempt  their  fellow  men  to  ruin, 
and  yet  hope  for  his  favor.  They  felt  bound  to  do  to  others,  as 
they  would  that  God  should  do  to  them.  And  if  they  did  not 
strive  to  use  their  influence,  not  to  corrupt  and  destroy,  but 
to  save  others,  they  knew  that  God  would  not  save  them.  Nor 
will  he  save  any,  who  are  not,  in  this  respect,  like  them.  In 
vain  will  they  plead  their  connection  with  the  church,  in  arrest  ol 
condemnation,  for  destroying  their  fellow  men.  And  if  they 
continue  that  work  of  death,  and  the  church  continues  to  hold 
them  within  its  sacred  enclosure,  and  spread  .over  them  the  pro- 
tecting banner  of  the  cross,  she  will  be  judged  as  accessory,  and 
held  responsible  for  the  mighty  ruin.  And  when  the  overflow- 
ing scourge  shall  pass  through,  judgment  will  begin,  where,  had 
reformation  begun  and  continued,  it  had  wrought  out  salvation, 
at  the  house  of  God.  And  whether  the  rainbow  of  mercy  which 
has  begun  to  appear,  shall  extend,  and  encircle  the  world,  or 
earth  be  enveloped  in  blackness  of  darkness,  now,  under  Christ, 
hangs  on  the  decision  of  the  church  which  he  hath  purchased 
with  his  own  precious  blood.  Let  her  members  extract  from  the 
bounties  of  his  kindness,  the  material  for  burning  out  the  con- 
sciences of  their  fellow  men, — let  them  set  it  on  fire,  apply  it,  and 
make  it  a  business,  to  spread  it  through  the  community,  and  the 
smoke  of  their  torment  will  cover  the  whole  earth,  and  spread 
through  all  its  dwellings  darkness,  lamentation,  and  mourning,  and 
wo.  A  fire  in  God's  anger  will  burn  continued  perpetrators  of 
such  wickedness,  even  to  the  lowest  hell.  They  would  keep  the 
jewels  from  the  crown  of  his  Son,  and  ruin  the  souls  for  whom 
he  died. 

But  let  ministers  and  churches  do  their  duty,   free   themselves 
from  all  participation  in,  or  connivance  at  iniquity,  and  let  them, 

5* 


54  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [164 

by  light  and  love,  poured  out  kindly  and  perpetually,  labor  to  per- 
suade all,  from  supreme  regard  to  God,  and  good  will  to  men,  to 
do  the  same,  and  the  night  and  wo  of  ages  will  pass  away,  and 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  rising  in  his  glory,  will  pour  round  the 
globe  the  life  and  the  bliss  of  universal  and  unceasing  day. 

Already,  in  different  parts  of  Africa,  are  there  Temperance 
Societies ;  and  African  newspapers  state,  that  of  all  the  reforms 
in  this  reforming  age,  this  is  the  greatest.  The  way  is  preparing 
to  exclude  the  scourge  of  the  white  man  from  the  whole  continent 
which  he  has  cursed. 

The  Emperor  of  China  has  forbidden  it  to  be  sold  to  the 
nominal  Christian,  because  it  makes  him  demoralize  the  heathen, 
and  sinks  him  too  low  even  to  associate  with  them. 

In  the  Sandwich  Islands,  a  thousand  in  a  day  covenanted  not  to 
make,  sell,  or  use  it.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  it  are  prohib- 
ited by  law,  and  a  man  was  fined  two  hundred  dollars,  for  selling 
a  bottle  of  it.  A  Temperance  Society  has  also  been  formed,  de- 
signed to  embrace  the  nation.  "  This  society,"  says  one  who  was 
present,  "  it  is  hoped  will  be  a  permanent  institution,  a  happy  safe- 
guard to  the  present,  and  a  lasting  blessing  to  future  genera- 
tions— an  institution  which  may  yet  claim  kindred  with  the  nobler 
National  Temperance  Society  of  the  United  States,  which  now 
waves  the  banner  of  deliverance  to  our  drowning  country,  and 
gives  her  high-born  pledge  to  stay  the  glory  that  was  departing 
from  her.  The  striking  fact  of  a  southern  dealer  in  the  United 
States  emptying  his  casks  on  the  ground,  because  he  could  not 
conscientiously  sell  so  dangerous  and  destructive  an  article, 
strikes  our  serious  natives,  as  it  does  me,  as  one  of  the  best  efforts 
that  has  been  known  for  exhausting  that  fountain  of  death  which 
is  desolating  the  earth.  Let  every  dealer  in  that  kind  of  mer- 
chandize follow  so  noble,  so  safe  an  example,  and  'joy  to  the 
world,'  would  be  the  song  of  the  rising  generation.  I  am  told 
that  our  young  king  has  ordered  a  cask  of  spirits  on  board  one  of 
his  brigs,  to  be  poured  into  the  sea — that,  the  British  consul  ap- 
plied to  the  Governor  for  permission  to  buy  up  rum  for  his  Bri- 
tannic Majesty's  ships  when  they  touch  here,  and  was  denied, — 
that  others  applied  for  the  privilege  of  selling  to  foreigners  only, 
not  to  natives,  and  the  reply  of  the  Governor  was,  '  To  horses, 
cattle,  and  hogs  you  may  sell  rum,  but  to  real  men  you  mus+  not 
on  these  shores.''" 

Such  is  the  language  of  a  ruler,  lately  in  pagan  darkness, 
among  a  nation  of  drunkards.  A  single  owner  of  rum  in  the 
United  States,  who  sinks  it  in  the  earth,  rather  than  poison  and 
destroy  his  fellow  men,  may  exert  influence  in  the  promotion  of 


165]  FIFTH    REPORT. — 1832.  55 

salvation  over  the  whole  earth ;  while  he,  who,  from  the  paltry 
love  of  gain,  continues  to  sell  it,  tends  to  perpetuate  sin  and  death 
throughout  the  human  family,  forever.  Both  exert  influence 
which  may  be  felt  after  earth  is  dissolved ;  and  told,  the  one  in 
strains  of  glory  rising  higher  and  higher,  the  other  in  tones  of  an- 
guish sinking  deeper  and  deeper,  to  endless  being. 

And  when  Ethiopia  is  rising  and  stretching  out  her  hands,  and 
the  isles  of  the  sea  are  receiving  and  obeying  God's  law;  when 
China  is  struggling  to  keep  off  death  from  her  people — ►Iceland  in 
supplication  for  deliverance  is  melting;  and  the  whole  creation 
gioaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain — when  the  Saviour,  with  a  voice 
which  pervades  creation,  is  proclaiming,  Who  is  on  the  Lord's 
side? — Who? — and  the  universe  look  with  intense  gaze  to  witness 
the  result; — and  when  a  single  individual,  by  coming  out  openly 
and  decidedly  on  the  Lord's  side,  and  sacrificing,  in  a  single. in- 
stance, money  to  duty,  may  roll  a  wave  of  salvation  on  the  other 
side  of  the  globe ;  shall  professed  members  of  that  church  which 
Christ  has  bought  with  his  blood,  take  part  with  the  enemy  of  all 
good,  and  assist  in  perpetuating  his  dark  and  dismal  reign  over 
souls,  to  endless  ages? — If  they  do,  God  will  write,  for  the 
universe  to  look  at,  To  ivhom  they  yield  themselves  servants  to 
obey,  his  servants  they  are.  And  the  Register,  in  blazing  capitals, 
will  be  eternal.  And  though  men  who  continue  knowingly  and 
habitually  to  do  evil,  and  to  hate  the  light,  may,  in  this  world, 
refuse  to  come  to  it,  and  when  it  approaches  them  may  attempt 
to  flee  away ;  in  the  future  world  it  will  blaze  upon  them  in  one 
unclouded  vision  of  infinite  brightness,  and  show  the  hearts  of  all 
who  persevere  in  wickedness  to  be  more  black  than  darkness  it- 
self forever. 


88  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [198 

•      G.  (P.  18.) 

ON    THE 

IMMORALITY 

OF 

THE    TRAFFIC    IN   ARDENT    SPIRIT. 


No.  I. 

Ardent  spirit  is  composed  of  alcohol  and  water,  in  nearly  equal 
proportions.  Alcohol  is  composed  of  hydrogen,  carbon,  and 
oxygen,  in  the  proportion  of  about  13,  52,  and  35  parts  to  the 
hundred.  It  is,  in  its  nature,  as  manifested  by  its  effects,  a  poison 
When  laken  in  any  quantity,  it  disturbs  healthy  action  in  the  hu- 
man system,  and  in  large  doses  suddenly  destroys  life.  It  re- 
sembles opium  in  its  nature,  and  arsenic  in  its  effects.  And 
though  when  mixed  with  water,  as  in  ardent  spirit,  its  evils  are 
somewhat  modified,  they  are  by  no  means  prevented.  Ardent 
spirit  is  an  enemy  to  the  human  constitution,  and  cannot  be  used 
as  a  drink  without  injury.  Its  ultimate  tendency  invariably,  is, 
to  produce  weakness,  not  strength;  sickness,  not  health;  death, 
not  life. 

Consequently,  to  use  it  is  an  immorality.  It  is  a  violation  of 
the  will  of  God;  and  a  sin  in  magnitude  equal  to  all  the  evils, 
temporal  and  eternal,  which  flow  from  it.  To  furnish  ardent  spirit 
for  the  use  of  others,  is  a  still  greater  sin,  inasmuch  as  this 
tends  to  produce  evils  greater  than  for  an  individual  merely,  to 
drink  it.  And  if  a  man  knows,  or  has  the  opportunity  of  know- 
ing, the  nature  and  effects  of  the  traffic  in  this  article,  and  yet 
continues  to  be  engaged  in  it,  he  is  an  immoral  man,  and  ought 
to  be  viewed  and  treated  as  such  throughout  the  world  ;  for  the 
following  reasons,  viz. 

I.  Ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  not  needful.  All  men  lived 
without  it,  and  all  the  business  of  the  world  was  conducted  with- 
out it,  for  thousands  of  years.  It  is  not  three  hundred  years 
since  it  began  to  be  generally  used  as  a  drink  in  Great  Britain; 
nor  one  hundred  years  since  it  became  common  in  America.  Of 
course,  it  is  not  needful. 

II.  It  is  not  useful.  Those  who  do  not  use  it,  are,  other  things 
being  equal,  in  all  respects  better  than  those  who  do.  Nor  does 
the  fact  that  persons  have  used  it  with  more  or  less  frequency, 
in  a  greater  or  smaller  quantity,  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time, 
render  it  either  needful,  or  useful,  or  harmless,  or  right  for  them 


199j  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  89 

to  continue  to  use  it.  More  than  a  million  of  persons  in  this 
country,  and  multitudes  in  other  countries,  who  once  did  use  it, 
and  thought  it  needful,  have,  within  five  years,  ceased  to  use  it; 
and  they  have  found  that  they  are  in  all  respects  better  without 
it.  And  this  number  is  so  great,  of  all  ages,  and  conditions,  and 
employments,  as  to  render  it  certain,  should  the  experiment  be 
fairly  made,  that  this  would  be  the  case  with  all.  Of  course,  ar- 
dent spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  not  useful. 

III.   It  is  hurtful.     Its  whole  influence  is  injurious  to  the  body 
and  the  mind,  for  this  world,  and  the  world  to  come. 

1.  It  forms  an  unnecessary,  artificial,  and  very  dangerous  ap- 
petite; which,  by  gratification,  like  the  desire  for  sinning  in  the 
man  who  sins,  tends  continually  to  increase.  No  man  can  form 
this  appetite  without  increasing  his  danger  of  dying  a  drunkard, 
and  exerting  an  influence  which  tends  to  perpetuate  drunken- 
ness and  all  its  abominations  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Its  very 
formation,  therefore,  is  a  violation  of  the  will  of  God.  It  is,  in  its 
nature,  an  immorality,  and  springs  from  an  inordinate  desire  of 
a  kind,  or  degree  of  bodily  enjoyment — animal  gratification, 
which  God  has  shown  to  be  inconsistent  with  his  glory,  and  the 
highest  good  of  man.  It  shows  that  the  person  who  forms  it 
is  not  satisfied  with  the  proper  gratification  of  those  appetites 
and  passions  which  God  has  given  him,  or  with  that  kind  and 
degree  of  bodily  enjoyment,  which  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness 
have  prescribed,  as  the  utmost  that  can  be  possessed  consist- 
ently with  a  person's  highest  happiness  and  usefulness,  the  glory 
of  his  Maker,  and  the  good  of  the  universe.  That  person  covets 
more  animal  enjoyment:  to  obtain  it,  he  forms  a  new  appetite,  and 
in  doing  this,  he  rebels  against  God.  That  desire  for  increased 
animal  enjoyment,  from  which  this  rebellion  springs,  is  sin;  and 
all  the  evils  which  follow  in  its  train,  are  only  so  many  voices 
by  which  Jehovah  declares  "the  way  of  transgressors  is  hard." 
The  person  who  has  formed  an  appetite  for  ardent  spirit,  and 
feels  uneasy  if  he  does  not  gratify  it,  has  violated  the  divine  ar- 
rangement; disregarded  the  divine  will;  and  if  he  understands 
the  nature  of  what  he  has  done,  and  approves  of  it,  and  continues 
in  it,  it  will  ruin  him.  He  will  show  that  there  is  one  thing,  in 
which  he  will  not  have  God  to  reign  over  him.  And  should  he 
keep  the  whole  law,  and  yet  continue  knowingly,  habitually, 
wilfully,  and  perseveringly  to  offend  in  that  one  point,  he  will 
perish.  Then,  and  then  only,  according  to  the  Bible,  can  any 
man  be  saved,  when  he  has  respect  to  all  the  known  will  of  God, 
and  is  disposed  to  be  governed  by  it.  He  must  carry  out  into 
practice,  with  regard  to  the  body  and  the  soul,  "  not  my  will,  but 
thine  be  done."  His  grand  object  must  be  to  know  the  will  of 
God;  and  when  he  knows  it,  to  be  governed  by  it,  and  with  re- 
gard to  all  things.  This,  the  man  who  is  not  contented  with  that 
portion  of  animal  enjoyment  which  the  proper  gratification  of 
the  appetites  and  passions  which  God  has  given  him  will  afford, 
14  8* 


90  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [200 

but  forms  an  appetite  for  ardent  spirit,  or  continues  to  gratify  it, 
after  it  is  formed,  does  not  do.  In  this  respect,  if  he  understands 
the  nature  and  effects  of  his  actions,  he  prefers  his  own  will  to  the 
known  will  of  God,  and  is  ripening  to  hear,  from  the  lips  of  his 
Judge,  "  those  mine  enemies,  that  would  not  that  I  should  reign 
over  them,  bring  them  hither  and  slay  them  before  me."  And  the 
men  who  traffic  in  this  article,  or  furnish  it  as  a  drink  for  others, 
are  tempting  them  to  sin;  and  thus  uniting  their  iufluence  with 
that  of  the  devil,  forever  to  ruin  them.  This  is  an  aggravated  im- 
morality;  and  the.  men  who  continue  to  do  it,  are  immoral  men. 

2.  The  use  of  ardent  spirit,  to  which  the  traffic  is  ac- 
cessory, causes  a  great  and  wicked  waste  of  property.  All  that 
the  users  pay  for  this  article  is  to  them  lost,  and  worse  than 
lost.  Should  the  whole  which  they  use,  sink  into  the  earth,  or 
mingle  with  the  ocean,  it  would  be  better  for  them,  and  better 
for  the  community,  than  for  them  to  drink  it.  All  which  it  takes 
to  support  the  paupers,  and  prosecute  the  crimes  which  ardent 
spirit  occasions,  is,  to  those  who  pay  the  money,  utterly  lost.  All 
the  diminution  of  profitable  labor  which  it  occasions,  through  im- 
providence, idleness,  dissipation,  intemperance,  sickness,  insani- 
ty, and  premature  deaths,  is,  to  the  community,  so  much  utterly 
lost.  And  these  items,  as  has  often  been  shown,  amount,  in  the 
United  States,  to  more  than  $100,000,000  a  year.  To  this  enor- 
mous and  wicked  waste  of  property,  those  who  traffic  in  the  ar- 
ticle are  knowingly  accessory. 

A  portion  of  what  is  thus  lost  by  others,  they  obtain  them- 
selves; but  without  rendering  to  others  any  valuable  equivalent. 
This  renders  their  business  palpably  unjust;  as  really  so,  as  if 
they  should  obtain  that  money  by  gambling;  and  it  is  as  really 
immoral.  It  is  also  unjust  in  another  respect;  it  burdens  the  com- 
munity with  taxes,  both  for  the  support  of  pauperism,  and  for  the 
prosecution  of  crimes;  and  without  rendering  to  that  community 
any  adequate  compensation.  These  taxes,  as  shown  by  facts,  are 
four  times  as  great  as  they  would  be,  if  there  were  no  sellers  of 
ardent  spirit.  All  the  profits,  with  the  exception  perhaps  of  a 
mere  pittance  which  he  pays  for  license,  the  seller  piits  into  his 
own  pocket;  while  the  burthens  are  thrown  upon  the  community. 
This  is  palpably  unjust,  and  utterly  immoral.  Of  1969  paupers, 
in  different  alms-houses  in  the  United  States,  1790,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  overseers  of  the  poor,'  were  made  such  by 
spirituous  liquor.  And  of  1764  criminals  in  different  prisons, 
more  than  1300  were  either  intemperate  men,  or  were  under  the 
power  of  intoxicating  liquor,  when  the  crimes,  for  which  they 
were  imprisoned,  were  committed.  And  of  44  murders,  accord- 
ing to  the  testimony  of  those  who  prosecuted  or  conducted  the 
defence  of  the  murderers,  or  witnessed  their  trials,  forty-three 
were  committed  by  intemperate  men,  or  upon  intemperate  men,  or 
those  who  at  the  time  of  the  murder  were  under  the  power  of  strong 
drink. 


201J 


FIFTH    REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  91 


A  distinguished  Senator  in  Congress,*  after  thirty  years  exten- 
sive practice  as  a  lawyer,  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  that  four-fifths 
of  all  the  crimes  committed  in  the  United  States  can  be  traced 
to  intemperance.  A  similar  proportion  is  stateds  from  the  highest 
authority,  to  result  from  the  same  cause  in  Great  Britain.  And 
when  it  is  considered  that  more  than  200  murders  are  committed, 
and  more  than  ;10,000  crimes  are  prosecuted  in  the  United  States 
in  a  year;  and  that  such  a  vast  proportion  of  them  are  occasioned 
by  ardent  spirit, — can  a  doubt  remain  on  the  mind  of  any  sober 
man.  that  the  men  who  know  these  facts,  and  yet  continue  to 
traffic  in  this  article,  are  among  the  chief  causes  of  crime,  and 
ought  to  be  viewed  and  treated  as  immoral  men?  It  is  as  really 
immoral  for  a  man  by  doing  wrong  to  excite  others  to  commit 
crimes,  as  to  commit  them  himself;  and  as  really  unjust  wrong- 
fully to  take  another's  property,  with  his  consent,  as  without  it. 
And  though  it  might  not  be  desirable  to  have  such  a  law,  yet 
no  law  in  the  statute  book  is  more  righteous  than  one  which 
should  require  that  those  who  make  paupers  should  support 
them,  and  those  who  excite  others  to  commit  crimes,  should  pay 
the  cost  of  their  prosecution,  and  should,  with  those  who  commit 
them,  bear  all  the  evils.  And  so  long  as  this  is  not  the  case, 
fhey  will  be  guilty,  according  to  the  divine  law,  of  defrauding, 
as  well  as  tempting  and  corrupting  their  fellow  men.  And 
though  such  crimes  cannot  be  prosecuted,  and  justice  be  awarded 
in  human  courts,  their  perpetrators  will  be  held  to  answer,  and 
will  meet  with  full  and  awful  retribution,  at  the  divine  tribunal. 
And  when  judgment  is  laid  to  the  line,  and  righteousness  to  the 
plummet,  they  will  appear  as  they  really  are,  criminals,  and 
will  be  viewed  and  treated  as  such  forever. 

No.  II. 
There  is  another  view  in  which  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  is 
manifestly  highly  immoral.  It  exposes  the  children  of  those  who 
use  it,  in  an  eminent  degree  to  dissipation  and  crime.  Of  690 
children  prosecuted  and  imprisoned  for  crimes,  more  than  400 
were  from  intemperate  families.  Thus  the  venders  of  this  liquor 
exert  an  influence  which  tends  strongly  to  ruin  not  only  those  who 
use  it,  but  their  children;  to  render  them  more  than  four  times 
as  liable  to  idleness,  profligacy,  and  ruin  as  the  children  of  those 
who  do  not  use  it;  and  through  them,  to  extend  these  evils  to 
others,  and  to  perpetuate  them  to  future  generations.  This  is  a  sin 
of  which  all  who  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  are  guilty.  Often,  the 
deepest  pang  which  a  dying  parent  feels  for  his  children,  is,  lest 
through  the  instrumentality  of  such  men,  they  should  be  ruined. 
And  is  it  not  horrible  wickedness  for  them,  by  exposing  for  sale 
one  of  the  chief  causes  of  this  ruin,  to  tempt  them  in  the  way  to 
death.     If  he  who  takes  money  from  others   without  an  equiva- 

*  Hon.  Felix  Grundy,  United  States  Senator  from  the  State  of  Tennessee- 


92  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [202 

lent,  or  wickedly  destroys  property,  is  an  immoral  man,  what  is 
he  who  destroys  character;  who  corrupts  the  children  and  youth, 
and  exerts  an  influence  to  extend  and  perpetuate  immorality  and 
crime  through  nature  generations?  This,  every  vender  of  ardent 
spirit  does;  and  if  he  continues  in  this  business  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  subject,  it  marks  him  as  an  habitual  and  persevering  vio- 
lator of  the  will  of  God. 

3.  Ardent  spirit  impairs,  and  often  destroys  reason.  Of  781 
maniacs,  in  different  insane  hospitals,  392,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  their  own  friends,  were  rendeied  maniacs  by  strong 
drink.  And  the  physicians  who  had  the  care  of  them,  gave  it  as 
their  opinion,  that  this  was  the  case  with  many  of  the  others. 
Those  who  have  had  extensive  experience,  and  the  best  opportu- 
nities for  observation  with  regard  to  this  malady,  have  stated, 
that  probably  from  one  half  to  three  fourths  of  the  cases  of  insan- 
ity, in  many  places,  are  occasioned  in  the  same  way.  Ardent 
spirit  is  a  poison,  so  diffusive  and  subtil  that  it  is  found  by  actual 
experiment,  to  penetrate  even  the  brain. 

Dr.  Kirk,  of  Scotland,  dissected  a  man  who  died  in  a  fit  of  in- 
toxication, a  few  hours  after  death.  And,  from  the  lateral  ven- 
tricles of  the  brain,  he  took  a  fluid  distinctly  visible  to  the  smell, 
as  whiskey;  and  when  he  applied  a  candle  to  it  in  a  spoon,  it  took 
fire,  and  burnt  blue;  "the  lambent  blue  flame,"  he  says,  "  char- 
acteristic of  the  poison,  playing  on  the  surface  of  the  spoon  for 
some  seconds." 

It  produces  also  in  the  children  of  those  who  use  it  freely,  a 
predisposition  to  intemperance,  insanity,  and  various  diseases  of 
both  body  and  mind;  which,  if  the  cause  is  continued,  becomes 
hereditary,  and  is  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation;  oc- 
casioning a  diminution  of  size,  strength,  and  energy;  a  feeble- 
ness of  vision,  a  feebleness  and  imbecility  of  purpose,  an  obtuse- 
ness  of  intellect,  a  depravation  of  moral  taste,  a  premature  old 
age,  and  a  general  deterioration  of  the  whole  character.  This  is 
the  case  in  every  country,  and  in  every  age. 

Instances  are  known,  where  the  first  children  of  a  family,  who 
were  born  when  their  parents  were  temperate,  have  been  healthy, 
intelligent,  and  active  ;  while  the  last  children,  who  were  born 
after  the  parents  had  become  intemperate,  were  dwarfish,  and 
idiotic.  A  medical  gentleman  writes,  "  I  have  no  doubt  that  a 
disposition  to  nervous  diseases  of  a  peculiar  character,  is  trans- 
mitted by  drunken  parents."  Another  gentleman  states,  that, 
in  two  families  within  his  knowledge,  the  different  stages  of  in- 
temperance in  the  parents,  seemed  to  be  marked  by  a  corres- 
ponding deterioration  in  the  bodies  and  minds  of  the  children. 
In  one  case,  the  eldest  of  the  family  is  respectable,  industrious, 
and  accumulates  property;  the  next  is  inferior,  disposed  to  be  in- 
dustrious, but  spends  all  he  can  earn  in  strong  drink.  The  third 
is  dwarfish  in  body  and  mind,  and,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  a 
poor  miserable  remnant  of  a  man." 


203]         FIFTH  REPORT. 1S32. APPENDIX.  93 

In  another  family  of  daughters,  the  first  is  a  smart,  active  girl, 
with  an  intelligent  well-balanced  mind;  the  others  are  afflicted 
with  different  degrees  of  mental  weakness  and  imbecility,  and 
the  youngest  is  an  idiot.  Another  medical  gentleman  states, 
that  the  first  child  of  a  family,  who  was  born  when  the  habits  of 
the  mother  were  good,  was  healthy  and  promising;  while  the 
four  last  children,  who  were  born  after  the  mother  had  become 
addicted  to  the  habit  of  using  opium,  appeared  to  be  stupid;  and 
all,  at  about  the  same  age,  sickened  and  died  of  a  disease  ap- 
parently occasioned  by  the  habits  of  the  mother. 

Another  gentleman  mentions  a  case  more  common,  and  more 
appalling  still.  A  respectable  and  influential  man  early  in  life 
adopted  the  habit  of  using  a  little  ardent  spirit  daily,  because,  as 
he  thought,  it  did  him  good.  He,  and  his  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters,  are  now  in  the  drunkard's  grave,  and 
the  only  surviving  child  is  rapidly  following  after,  in  the  same 
way,  to  the  same  dismal  end. 

The  best  authorities  attribute  one  half  the  madness,  three- 
fourths  of  the  pauperism,  and  four-fifths  of  the  crimes  and  wretch- 
edness in  Great  Britain,  to  the  use  of  strong  drink. 

4.  Ardent  spirit  increases  the  number,  frequency  and  violence  of 
diseases,  and  tends  to  bring  those  who  use  it,  to  a  premature  grave. 
In  one  place,*  of  about  7500  people,  twenty-one  persons  were  killed 
by  it  in  a  year.  In  another,!  of  18 1  deaths,  twenty  were  occasioned 
in  the  same  way.  Of  ninety-one  adults,  who  died  in  another  cityj 
in  one  year,  thirty-two,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Medi- 
cal Association,  were  occasioned,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  strong 
drink;  and  a  similar  proportion  had  been  occasioned  by  it  in 
previous  years.  In  another  city,^  of  sixty-seven  adult  deaths  in 
one  year,  more  than  one-third  were  caused  by  intoxicating  liquor. 
In  another  city,||  of  4,292  deaths,  700  were,  in  the  opinion  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  caused  in  the  same  way. 
The  physicians  of  another  city  IT  state  that  of  thirty-two  per- 
sons, male  and  female,  who  died  in  1823,  above  eighteen  years  of 
age,  ten,  or  nearly  one-third,  died  of  diseases  occasioned  by  in- 
temperance ;  that  eighteen  were  males,  and  that  of  these,  nine, 
or  one  half,  died  of  intemperance.  They  also  say,  "When  we 
recollect  that  even  the  temperate  use,  as  it  is  called,  of  ardent 
spirits,  lays  the  foundation  of  a  numerous  train  of  incurable  mal- 
adies, we  feel  justified  in  expressing  the  belief,  that  were  the  use 
of  distilled  liquors  entirely  discontinued,  the  number  of  deaths 
among  the  male  adults  would  be  diminished  at  least  one  half." 

Says  an  eminent  physician,  "  Since  our  people  generally  have 
given  up  the  use  of  spirit,  they  have  not  had  more  than  half  as 
much  sickness  as  they  had  before;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  should 
all  the  people  of  the  Uniied  States  cease  to   use   it,  that  nearly 

*  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  t  Salem,  Mass.  X  New  Haven,  Conn. 

§  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.     il  Philadelphia,  Pcna.   IT  Annapolis,  Maryland. 


14 


# 


94  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [204 

half  the  sickness  of  the  country  would  cease."  Says  another, 
after  forty  years,  extensive  practice,  "  Half  the  men  every  year 
who  die  of  fevers  might  recover,  had  they  not  been  in  the  habit 
of  using  ardent  spirit.  Many  a  man,  down  for  weeks  with  a 
fever,  had  he  not  used  ardent  spirit,  would  not  have  been 
confined  to  his  house  a  day.  He  might  have  felt  a  slight 
headache;  but  a  little  fasting  would  have  removed  the  difficulty, 
and  the  man  been  well.  And  many  a  man  who  was  never  in- 
toxicated, when  visited  with  a  fever,  might  be  raised  up  as  weH 
as  not,  were  it  not  for  that  state  of  the  system,  which  daily  mod- 
erate drinking  occasions,  who  now,  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be 
done,  sinks  down  and  dies." 

Nor  are  we  to  admit  for  a  moment  the  popular  reasoning,  as 
applicable  here,  "that  the  abuse  of  a  thing  is  no  argument 
against  its  use;"  for,  in  the  language  of  the  late  Secretary  of 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Philadelphia,*  "All 
use  of  ardent  spirits  (i.  e.  as  a  drink)  is  an  abuse.  They  are  mis- 
chievous under  all  circumstances."  Their  tendency,  says  Dr. 
Frank,  when  used  even  moderately,  is  to  induce  disease,  prema- 
ture old  age,  and  death.  And  Dr.  Trotter  states,  that  no  cause 
of  disease  has  so  wide  a  range,  or  so  large  a  share  as  the  use  of 
spirituous  liquors. 

Dr.  Harris  states  that  the  moderate  use  of  spirituous  liquors  has 
destroyed  many  who  were  never  drunk;  and  Dr.  Kirk  gives  it  as 
his  opinion,  that  men  who  were  never  considered  intemperate,  by 
daily  drinking  have  often  shortened  life  more  than  twenty  years; 
and  that  the  respectable  use  of  this  poison,  kills  more  men  than 
even  drunkenness.  Dr.  Wilson  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the 
use  of  spirit  in  large  cities,  causes  more  diseases  than  confined 
air,  unwholesome  exhalations,  and  the  combined  influence  of  all 
other  evils. 

Dr.  Cheyne,  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  after  thirty  years  practice  and 
observation,  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  that  should  ten  young  men 
begin  at  twenty-one  years  of  age  to  use  but  one  glass  of  two 
ounces  a  day,  and  never  increase  the  quantity,  nine  out  of  ten 
would  shorten  life  more  than  ten  years.  But  should  moderate 
drinkers  shorten  life  only  five  years,  and  drunkards  only  ten,  and 
should  there  be  but  four  moderate  drinkers  to  one  drunkard,  it 
would,  in  thirty  years,  cut  off",  in  the  United  States,  32,400,000 
years  of  human  life.  An  aged  physician  in  Maryland,  states, 
that  when  the  fever  breaks  out  there,  the  men  who  do  not  use 
ardent  spirit,  are  not  half  as  likely  as  other  men  to  have  it;  and 
that,  if  they  do  have  it,  they  are  ten  times  as  likely  to  recover. 
In  the  island  of  Key  West,  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  after  a  great 
mortality,  it  was  found  that  every  person  who  had  died,  was  in 
the  habit  of  using  ardent  spirit.     The  quantity  used  was  after- 

*  Samuel  Emlen,  M.  D. 


205]         FIFTH  REPORT. — 1S32. — APPENDIX.  95 

wards  diminished  more  than  nine-tenths,  and  the  inhabitants  be- 
came remarkably  healthy.* 

A  gentleman  of  great  respectability  from  the  South,  states, 
that  those  who  fall  victims  to  Southern  climes,  are  almost  inva- 
riably addicted  to  the  free  use  of  ardent  spirit.  Dr.  Mosely, 
after  a  long  residence  in  the  West  Indies,  declares,  "  that  per- 
sons who  drink  nothing  but  cold  water,  or  make  it  their  principal 
drink,  are  but  little  affected  by  tropical  climates;  that  they  un- 
dergo the  greatest  fatigue  without  inconvenience,  and  are  not  so 
subject  as  others  to  dangerous  diseases;"  and  Dr.  Bell,  "  that 
rum,  when  used  even  moderately,  always  diminishes  the  strength, 
and  renders  men  more  susceptible  of  disease;  and  that  we  might 
as  well  throw  oil  into  a  house,  the  roof  of  which  is  on  lire,  in  or- 
der to  prevent  the  flames  from  extending  to  the  inside,  as  to  pour 
ardent  spirits  into  the  stomach,  to  prevent  the  effect  of  a  hot  sun 
upon  the  skin." 

Of  77  persons  found  dead  in  different  regions  of  country,  67. 
according  to  the  coroneis'  inquests,  were  occasioned  by  strong 
drink.  .Nine-tenths  of  those  who  die  suddenly  after  the  drinking 
of  cold  water,  have  been  habitually  addicted  to  the  free  use  of 
ardent  spirit;  and  that  draught  of  cold  water,  that  effort,  or  fa- 
tigue or  exposure  to  the  sun,  or  disease,  which  a  man  who  uses 
no  ardent  spirit  will  bear  without  inconvenience  or  danger,  will 
often  kill  those  who  use  it.  Their  liability  to  sickness  and  to 
death  is  often  increased  ten  fold.  And  to  all  these  evils,  those 
who  continue  to  traffic  in  it,  after  all  the  light  which  God  in  his 
providence  has  thrown  upon  the  subject,  are  knowingly  accesso- 
ry. Whether  they  deal  in  it  by  wholesale  or  retail,  by  the  car- 
go or  the  glass,  they  are,  in  their  influence,  drunkard-makers. 
So  are  also  those  who  furnish  the  materials;  those  who  advertise 
the  liquors,  and  thus  promote  their  circulation;  those  who  lease 
their  tenements  to  be  employed  as  dram-shops,  or  stores  for  the 
sale  of  ardent  spirit;  and  those  also  who  purchase  their  groceries 
of  spirit  dealers  rather  than  of  others,  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
to  the  amount,  which  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  enables  such  men 
without  loss  to  undersell  their  neighbors.  These  are  all  acces- 
sory to  the  making  of  drunkards,  and  as  such  will  be  held  to 
answer  at  the  divine  tribunal.  So  are  those  men  who  employ 
their  shipping  in  transporting  the  liquors,  or  are  in  any  way  know- 
ingly aiding  and  abetting  in  perpetuating  their  use,  as  a  drink, 
in  the  community. 

Four-fifths  of  those  who  are  swept  away  by  that  direful  mala- 
dy the  cholera,  are  such  as  have  been  addicted  to  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating drink.  Dr.  Bronson,  of  Albany,  who  lately  spent 
some  time  in  Canada,  and  whose  professional  character  and  stand- 
ing give  great  weight  to  his  opinions,  says,  "  Intemperance  of  any 

*  Addres?  of  Judge  Cranch — Fourth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  So- 
ciety, p.  91. 


96  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [206 

species,  but  particularly  intemperance  in  the  use  of  distilled 
liquors,  has  been  a  more  productive  cause  of  cholera  than  any 
other;  and  indeed  than  all  others."  And  can  men,  for  the  sake 
of  money,  make  it  a  business  knowingly  and  perseveringly  to 
furnish  the  most  productive  cause  of  cholera,  and  not  he  guilty 
of  blood  ?  not  manifest  a  recklessness  of  character  which  will 
brand  the  mark  of  vice  and  infamy  on  their  foreheads  ?  "  Drunk- 
ards and  tipplers,"  he  adds,  "  have  been  searched  out  with  such 
unerring  certainty,  as  to  show  that  the  arrows  of  death  have  not 
been  dealt  out  with  indiscrimination.  An  indescribable  terror  has 
spread  through  the  ranks  of  this  class  of  beings.  They  see  the 
bolts  of  destruction  aimed  at  their  heads,  and  every  one  calls 
himself  a  victim.  There  seems  to  be  a  natural  affinity  between 
cholera  and  ardent  spirits."  What,  then,  in  days  of  exposure 
to  this  malady,  is  so  great  a  nuisance  as  the  places  which  furnish 
this  poison  ?  Says  Dr.  Rhinelander,  who  with  Dr.  De  Kay  was 
deputed  from  New  York  to  visit  Canada,  "  We  may  ask  who  are 
the  victims  of  this  disease  ?  I  answer,  the  intemperate  it  invari- 
ably cuts  off."  In  Montreal,  after  1200  had  been  attacked,  a 
Montreal  paper  states,  that  "  not  a  drunkard  who  has  been  attack- 
ed has  recovered  of  the  disease,  and  almost  all  the  victims  have- 
been  at  least  moderate  drinkers."  In  Paris,  the  30,000  victims 
were,  with  few  exceptions,  those  who  freely  used  intoxicating 
liquors.  Nine-tenths  of  those  who  died  of  the  cholera  in  Poland 
were  of  the  same  class. 

In  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  the  average  number  of  deaths  in 
the  bills  of  mortality,  during  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  when 
the  people  ceased  to  drink  brandy,  was  no  greater  than  when  they 
used  it,  during  the  usual  months  of  health — showing  that  brandy 
and  attendant  dissipation,  killed  as  many  people  in  the  same  time, 
as  even  the  cholera  itself,  that  pestilence  which  has  spread  sack- 
cloth over  the  nations.  And  shall  the  men  who  know  this,  and 
yet  continue  to  furnish  it,  for  all  who  can  be  induced  to  buy, 
escape  the  execration  of  being  the  destroyers  of  their  race  ?  Of 
more  than  1000  deaths  in  Montreal,  it  is  stated  that,  only  two  were 
members  of  Temperance  Societies;  and  that  as  far  as  is  known 
no  members  of  Temperance  Societies  in  Ireland,  Scotland,  or 
England,  have  as  yet  fallen  victims  to  that  dreadful  disease. 

From  Montreal,  Dr.  Bronson  writes,  "  Cholera  has  stood  up 
here,  as  it  has  done  every  where,  the  advocate  of  Temperance. 
It  has  pleaded  most  eloquently,  and  r/ith  tremendous  effect. 
The  disease  has  searched  out  the  haunt  of  the  drunkard,  and  has 
seldom  left  it  without  bearing  away  its  victim.  Even  moderate 
drinkers  have  been  but  little  better  off.  Ardent  spirits,  in  any 
shape  and  in  all  quantities,  have  been  highly  detrimental.  Some 
temperate  men  resorted  to  them,  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
malady,  as  a  preventive,  or  to  remove  the  feeling  of  uneasiness 
about  the  stomach,  or  for  the  purpose  of  drowning  their  appre- 
hensions; but  they  did  it  at  their  peril." 


207]  FIFTH  REPORT.  — 1832. APPENDIX.  97 

Says  the  London  Morning  Herald,  after  stating  that  the  chol- 
era fastens  its  deadly  grasp  upon  this  class  of  men,  "The  same 
preference  for  the  intemperate  and  uncleanly  has  characterized 
the  cholera  every  ivhere.  Intemperance  is  a  qualification  which 
it  never  overlooks.  Often  has  it  passed  harmless  over  a  wide 
population  of  temperate  country  people,  and  poured  down,  as  an 
overflowing  scourge,  upon  the  drunkards  of  some  distant  town." 
Says  another  English  publication,  "All  experience,  both  in  Great 
Britain  and  elsewhere,  has  proved,  that  those  who  have  been 
addicted  to  drinking  spirituous  liquors,  and  indulging  in  ir- 
regular habits,  have  been  the  greatest  sufferers  from  cholera. 
In  some  towns  the  drunkards  are  all  dead.  Rarnmohun  Fingee, 
the  famous  Indian  doctor,  says,  with  regard  to  India,  that  people 
who  do  not  take  opium,  or  spirits,  do  not  take  this  disorder, 
even  when  they  are  with  those  who  have  it.  Monsieur  Huber, 
who  saw  2,160  persons  perish  in  twenty-five  days,  in  one  town, 
in  Russia,  says,  "It  is  a  most  remarkable  circumstance,  that 
persons  given  to  drinking  have  been  swept  away  like  flies.  In 
Tiflis,  containing  20,000  inhabitants,  every  drunkard  has  fallen — 
all  are  dead,  not  one  remains." 

And  Dr.  Sewall,  of  Washington  city,  in  a  letter  from  New 
York,  states,  that  of  204  cases  of  cholera  in  the  Park  Hospital, 
there  were  only  six  temperate  persons,  and  that  those  had  re- 
covered; while  122  of  the  others,  when  he  wrote,  had  died;  and 
that  the  facts  were  similar  in  all  the  other  hospitals. 

The  men  then  who  furnish  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  for  their  fel- 
low men,  are  manifestly  inviting  the  ravages  and  preparing  the 
victims  of  that  fatal  disease,  and  of  numerous  other  mortal  dis- 
eases; and  when  inquisition  is  made  for  blood,  and  the  effects  of 
their  employment  are  examined  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  to 
them,  according  to  their  work,  they  will  be  found,  should  they 
continue,  to  be  guilty  of  knowingly  destroying  their  fellow  men. 

What  right  have  men,  by  selling  ardent  spirit,  to  increase  the 
danger,  extend  the  ravages,  and  augment  and  perpetuate  the 
malignancy  of  the  cholera,  and  multiply  upon  the  community 
numerous  other  mortal  diseases?  Who  cannot  see  that  it  is  a 
foul,  deep,  and  fatal  injury  inflicted  on  society?  that  it  is,  in 
a  high  degree,  cruel  and  unjust?  that  it  scatters  the  popula- 
tion of  our  cities,  renders  our  business  stagnant,  and  exposes  our 
sons  and  our  daughters  to  premature  and  sudden  death?  And  so 
manifestly  is  this  the  case,  that  the  Board  of  Health  of  the  city 
of  Washington  have  declared  that  the  vending  of  ardent  spirit, 
in  any  quantity,  is  a  nuisance ;  and,  as  such  have  ordered  that  it 
be  discontinued  for  the  space  of  90  days.  This  has  been  done 
in  self-defence,  to  save  the  community  from  the  sickness  and 
death  which  the  vending  of  spirit  is  adapted  to  occasion.  Nor 
is  this  tendency  to  occasion  disease  and  death,  confined  to  the 
time  when  the  cholera  is  rag-ins. 


98  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [208 

By  the  statement  of  the  physicians  in  one  of  our  cities,* 
it  appears  that  the  average  number  of  deaths  by  intemperance, 
for  several  years,  has  been  one  to  every  329  inhabitants; 
which  would  make,  in  the  United  States,  40,000  in  a  year.  And 
it  is  the  opinion  of  physicians,  that  as  many  more  die  of  diseases 
which  are  induced,  or  aggravated  and  rendered  mortal  by  the  uso 
of  ardent  spirit.  And  to  those  results,  all  who  make  it,  sell  it, 
or  use  it,  are  accessory 

It  is  a  principle  in  law,  that  the  perpetrator  of  crime  and  the 
accessory  to  it  are  both  guilty,  and  deserving  of  punishment. 
Men  have  been  hanged  for  the  violation  of  this  principle.  It 
applies  to  the  law  of  God.  And  as  the  drunkard  cannot  go  to 
heaven,  can  drunkard-makers?  Are  they  not,  when  tried  by  the 
principles  of  the  Bible,  in  view  of  the  developements  of  Provi- 
dence, manifestly  immoral  men?  men  who,  for  the  cake  of  money, 
will  knowingly  be  instrumental  in  corrupting  the  character,  in- 
creasing the  diseases,  and  destroying  the  lives  of  their  fellow-men  ? 

';  But''  says  one,  "  I  never  sell  to  drunkards;  I  sell  only  to  sober 
men."  And  is  that  any  better?  Is  it  a  less  evil  to  the  commu- 
nity to  make  drunkards  of  sober  men,  than  it  is  to  kill  drunkards? 
Ask  that  widowed  mother,  Who  did  her  the  greatest  evil  ?  The 
man  who  only  killed  her  drunken  husband,  or  the  man  who  made 
a  drunkard  of  her  only  son?  Ask  those  orphan  children.  Who 
did  them  the  greatest  injury?  the  man  who  made  their  once  so- 
ber, kind,  and  affectionate  father  a  drunkard,  and  thus  blasted 
all  their  hopes,  and  turned  their  home,  sweet  home,  into  the  em- 
blem of  hell;  or  the  man  who,  after  they  had  suffered  for  years 
the  anguish,  the  indescribable  anguish  of  the  drunkard's  chil- 
dren, and  seen  their  heart-broken  mother  in  danger  of  an  un- 
timely grave,  only  killed  their  drunken  father,  and  thus  caused 
in  their  habitation,  a  great  calm?  Which  of  these  two  men 
brought  upon  them  the  greatest  evil?  Can  you  doubt?  You 
then  do  nothing  but  make  drunkards  of  sober  men,  or  expose 
them  to  become  such.  Suppose  that  all  the  evils  which  you  may 
be  instrumental  in  bringing  upon  other  children,  were  to  come 
upon  your  own,  and  that  you  were  to  bear  all  the  anguish 
which  you  may  occasion;  would  you  have  any  doubt  that  the  man 
who  would  knowingly  continue  to  be  accessory  to  the  bringing  of 
these  evils  upon  you,  must  be  a  notoriously  wicked  man? 

7.  Ardent  spirit  destroys  the  soul. 

Facts  in  great  numbers  are  now  before  the  public,]'  which  show 
conclusively  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  tends  strongly  to  hin- 
der the  moral  and  spiritual  illumination  and  purification  of  men; 
and  thus  to  prevent  their  salvation,  and  bring  upon  them  the  hor- 
rors of  the  second  death. 

A  disease  more  dreadful  than  the  cholera,  or   any  other  that 

*  Annapolis,  Maryland. 

t  Soe  Fourth  and  Fifth  Reports  of  the  American  Temperance  Society. 


209]        FIFTH  REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  99 

kills  the  body  merely,  is  raging,  and  is  universal,  threatening 
the  endless  death  of  the  soul.  A  remedy  is  provided,  all  suffi- 
cient, and  infinitely  efficacious;  but  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  aggra- 
vates the  disease,  and  with  millions  and  millions  prevents  the  ap- 
plication of  the  remedy,  and  thus  prevents  its  effect.  Great  multi- 
tudes therefore  die  the  second  death,  who,  were  it  not  for  this, 
might  live  forever. 

More  than  four  times  as  many,  in  proportion  to  the  number, 
over  wide  regions  of  country,  during  the  past  year,  have  appar- 
ently embraced  the  gospel,  and  experienced  its  saving  power, 
from  among  those  who  had  renounced  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  as 
from  those  who  continued  to  use  it.* 

The  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  in 
view  of  the  peculiar  and  unprecedented  attention  to  religion  which 
followed  the  adoption  of  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of 
strong  drink,  remark,  that  when  this  course  is  taken,  the  great- 
est enemy  to  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  on  the  minds  and  hearts 
of  men  appears  to  be  more  than  half  conquered. 

In  three  hundred  towns,  six-tenths  of  those,  who,  two  years  ago, 
belonged  to  Temperance  Societies,  but  were  not  hopefully  pious, 
have  since  become  so;  and  eight-tenths  of  those  who  have,  with- 
in that  time,  become  hopefully  pious,  who  did  not  belong  to  Tem- 
perance Societies,  have  since  joined  them.  In  numerous  places, 
where  only  a  minority  of  the  people  abstained  from  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirit,  nine-tenths  of  those,  who  have  of  late  professed  the 
religion  of  Christ,  have  been  from  that  minority.  This  is  occa- 
sioned in  various  ways.  The  use  of  ardent  spirit  keeps  many  away 
from  the  hcuse  of  God,  and  thus  prevents  them  from  coming  un- 
der the  sound  of  the  gospel.  And  many  who  do  come,  it  causes 
to  continue  stupid,  worldly  minded,  and  unholy.  A  single  glass 
a  day,  is  enough  to  keep  multitudes  of  men,  under  the  full  blaze 
of  the  gospel,  from  ever  experiencing  its  illuminating  and  purify- 
ing power.  Even  if  they  come  to  the  light,  and  it  shines  upon 
them,  it  shines  upon  darkness,  and  the  darkness  does  not  com- 
prehend it.  While  multitudes  who  thus  do  evil,  will  not  come 
to  the  light,  lest  their  deeds  should  be  reproved.  There  is  a  total 
contrariety  between  the  effect  produced  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
the  effect  of  spirituous  liquor  upon  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men. 
The  latter  tends  directly  and  powerfully  to  counteract  the  former. 
It  tends  to  make  men  feel  in  a  manner  which  Jesus  Christ  hates, 
rich  spiritually,  increased  in  goods,  and  in  need  of  nothing; 
while  it  tends  forever  to  prevent  them  from  feeling,  as  sinners  must 
feel,  to  buy  of  him  gold  tried  in  the  fire,  that  they  may  be  rich. 
Those  who  use  it,  therefore,  are  taking  the  direct  course  to  de- 
stroy their  own  souls;  and  those  who  furnish  it,  are  taking  the 
course  to  destroy  the  souls  of  their  fellow-men. 

In  one  town,  more  than  twenty  times  as  many,  in  proportion  to 

*  Sec  Fifth  Report  of  American  Temperance  Society,  p.  38. 


100  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [210 

the  number,  professed  the  religion  of  Christ,  during  the  past  year  ; 
and  in  another  town,  more  than  thirty  times  as  many  of  those  who 
did  not  use  ardent  spirit,  as  of  those  who  did.  In  other  towns,  in 
which  from  one-third  to  two-thirds  of  the  people  did  not  use  it,  and 
from  twenty  to  forty  made  a  profession  of  religion,  they  were  all 
from  the  same  class.  What  then  are  those  men  doing,  who  fur- 
nish it,  but  taking  the  course  which  is  adapted  to  keep  men  stu- 
pid in  sin,  till  they  sink  into  the  agonies  of  the  second  death? 
And  is  not  this  an  immorality  of  a  high  and  aggravated  descrip- 
tion? and  one  which  ought  to  mark  every  man,  who  understands 
its  nature  and  effects,  and  yet  continues  to  live  in  it,  as  a  notori- 
ously immoral  man?  What  though  he  does  not  live  in  other 
immoralities — is  not  this  enough  ?  Suppose  he  should  manufac- 
ture poisonous  miasma,  and  cause  the  cholera  in  our  dwellings; 
sell  knowingly  the  cause  of  disease,  and  increase  more  than  one- 
fifth,  over  wide  regions  of  country,  the  number  of  adult  deaths, 
would  he  not  be  a  murderer  ?  "I  know,''  says  the  learned  Judge 
Cranch,  "that  the  cup  (which  contains  ardent  spirit)  is  poison- 
ed: I  know  that  it  may  cause  death,  that  it  may  cause  more 
than  death,  that  it  may  lead  to  crime,  to  sin,  to  the  tortures  of  ever- 
lasting remorse.  Am  I  not  then  a  murderer?  worse  than  a  mur- 
derer ?  as  much  worse  as  the  soul  is  better  than  the  body  ? — If 
ardent  spirit,  were  nothing  worse  than  a  deadly  poison — if  they 
did  not  excite  and  inflame  all  the  evil  passions — if  they  did  not 
dim  that  heavenly  light,  which  the  Almighty  has  implanted  in 
our  bosoms  to  guide  us  through  the  obscure  passages  of  our  pil- 
grimage— if  they  did  not  quench  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  hearts, 
they  would  be  comparatively  harmless.  It  is  their  moral  effect — 
it  is  the  ruin  of  the  soul  which  they  produce,  that  renders  them  so 
dreadful.  The  difference  between  death  by  simple  poison,  and 
death  by  habitual  intoxication,  may  extend  to  the  whole  differ- 
ence between  everlasting  happiness  and  eternal  death." 

And  say  the  New  York  State  Society,  at  the  head  of  which 
is  the  Chancellor  of  the  State,  "Disguise  that  business  as  they 
will,  it  is  still,  in  its  true  character,  the  business  of  destroying  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  men.  The  vender  and  the  maker  of  spirits, 
in  the  whole  range  of  them,  from  the  pettiest  grocer  to  the  most 
extensive  distiller,  are  fairly  chargeable  not  only  with  supplying 
the  appetite  for  spirits,  but  with  creating  that  unnatural  appetite; 
not  only  with  supplying  the  drunkard  with  the  fuel  of  his  vices, 
but  with  making  the  drunkard. 

"  In  reference  to  the  taxes  with  which  the  making  and  vending 
of  spirits  loads  the  community,  how  unfair  towards  others  is  the 
occupation  of  the  maker  and  vender  of  them!  A  town,  for  in- 
stance, contains  one  hundred  drunkards.  The  profit  of  making 
these  drunkards,  is  enjoyed  by  some  half  a  dozen  persons;  but 
the  burden  of  these  drunkards  rests  upon  the  whole  town.  The 
Executive  Committee  do  not  suggest  that  there  should  be  such  a 
law;  but  they  ask  whether  there  would  be  one  law  in  the  whole 


211]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  101 

statute-book,  more  righteous  than  that  which  should  require  those 
who  have  the  profit  of  making  our  drunkards  to  be  burdened  with 
the  support  of  them." 

Multitudes,  there  is  reason  to  believe  are  now  wailing,  beyond  the 
reach  of  hope,  who,  had  it  not  been  for  ardent  spirit,  might  have 
been  in  glory;  and  multitudes  more,  if  men  continue  to  fur- 
nish it  as  a  drink,  especially  sober  men,  will  go  down  to  weep 
and  wail  with  them  to  endless  ages. 

No.  III. 

"But,"  says  one,  "the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  is  a  lawful 
business;  it  is  approbated  by  law,  and  is  therefore  right."  But 
the  keeping  of  gambling-houses  is,  in  some  cases,  approbated 
by  human  law.  Is  that  therefore  right  ?  The  keeping  of  broth- 
els is,  in  some  cases,  approbated  by  law.  Is  that  therefore 
right?  Is  it  human  law  that  is  the  standard  of  morality  and 
religion?  May  not  a  man  be  a  notoriously  wicked  man,  and  yet 
not  violate  human  law?  The  question  is,  Is  it  right?  Does  it  ac- 
cord with  the  divine  law?  Does  it  tend  in  its  effects  to  bring 
glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  to  promote  the  best  good  of 
mankind?  If  not,  the  word  of  God  forbids  it  ;  and  if  a  man, 
who  has  the  means  of  understanding  its  nature  and  effects,  con- 
tinues to  follow  it,  he  does  it  at  the  peril  of  his  soul. 

"  But,"  says  another,  "  if  I  should  not  sell  it,  I  could  not  sell 
so  many  other  things."  If  you  could  not,  then  you  are  forbid- 
den by  the  word  of  God  to  sell  so  many  other  things.  And  if 
you  continue  to  make  money  by  that  which  tends  to  destroy  your 
fellow-men,  you  incur  the  displeasure  of  Jehovah.  "  But  if  I 
should  not  sell  it,  I  must  change  my  business."  Then  you  are 
required  by  the  Lord  to  change  your  business.  A  voice  from 
the  throne  of  his  excellent  glory,  cries,  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  from 
this  evil  way ;  for  why  will  ye  die  ? 

"  If  I  should  turn  from  it,  I  could  not  support  my  family." 
This  is  not  true ;  at  least  no  one  has  a  right  to  say  that  it  is 
true,  till  he  has  tried  it,  and  done  his  whole  duty,  by  ceasing  to 
do  evil  and  learning  to  do  well,  trusting  in  God,  and  found  that 
his  family  is  not  supported.  Jehovah  declares  that  such  as  seek 
the  Lord,  and  are  governed  by  his  will,  shall  not  want  any  good 
thing.  And  till  men  have  made  the  experiment  of  obeying  him 
in  all  things,  and  found  that  they  cannot  support  their  families, 
they  have  no  right  to  say  that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  sell  ar- 
dent spirit.  And  if  they  do  say  this,  it  is  a  libel  on  the  divine 
character  and  government.  There  is  no  truth  in  it.  He  who 
feeds  the  sparrow  and  clothes  the  lily,  will,  if  they  do  right, 
provide  for  them  and  their  families;  and  there  is  no  shadow  of 
necessity,  in  order  to  obtain  support,  for  them  to  carry  on  a  busi- 
ness which  destroys  their  fellow-men. 

"But  others  will  do  it,    if   I  do  not."      Others    will    send   out 
their  vessels,  steal  the  black  man,  and  sell  him  and  his  children  in- 
15  »* 


102  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETV.  [212 

to  perpetual  bondage,  if  you  do  not.  Others  will  steal,  rob,  and 
commit  murder,  if  you  do  not;  and  why  may  not  you  do  it,  and 
have  a  portion  of  the  profit,  as  well  as  they?  Because  if  you 
do,  you  will  be  a  thief,  a  robber,  and  a  murderer,  hke  them. 
You  will  here  be  partaker  of  their  guilt,  and  hereafter  of  their 
plagues.  Every  friend  therefore  to  you,  to  your  Maker,  or  the 
eternal  interests  of  men,  will,  if  acquainted  with  this  subject, 
say  to  you,  As  you  value  the  favor  of  God,  and  would  escape  his 
righteous  and  eternal  indignation,  renounce  this  work  of  death; 
for  he  that  soweth  death,  shall  also  reap  death. 

"  But  our  fathers  imported,  manufactured,  and  sold  ardent 
spirit;  and  were  not  they  good  men?  Have  not  they  gone  to 
heaven?"  Men,  who  professed  to  be  good,  once  had  a  multi- 
plicity of  wives;  and  have  not  some  of  them  too  gone  to  heaven? 
Men  who  professed  to  be  good,  once,  were  engaged  in  the  slave 
trade;  and  have  not  some  of  them  gone  to  heaven?  But  can 
men,  who  understand  the  will  of  God,  with  regard  to  these  sub- 
jects, continue  to  do  such  things  now,  and  yet  go  to  heaven? 
The  principle  which  applies  in  this  case,  and  which  makes  the 
difference  between  those  who  did  such  things  once,  and  those 
who  continue  to  do  them  now,  is,  that  to  which  Jesus  Christ  re- 
ferred, when  he  said,  If  I  had  not  come  and  spoken  to  them,  they 
had  not  had  sin;  but  now  they  have  no  cloak  for  their  sin.  The 
days  of  that  darkness  and  ignorance  which  God  may  have  winked 
at,  have  gone  by;  and  he  now  commandeth  all  men,  to  whom  his 
will  is  made  known,  to  repent.  Your  fathers,  when  they  were 
engaged  in  selling  ardent  spirit,  did  not  know  that  all  men,  under 
all  circumstances,  would  be  better  without  it.  They  did  not 
know  that  it  cruised  three-quarters  of  the  pauperism  and  crimes 
in  the  land — that  it  deprived  many  of  reason — greatly  increased 
the  number  and  severity  of  diseases,  and  brought  down  such 
multitudes  to  an  untimely  grave.  The  facts  had  not  then  been 
collected  and  published.  They  did  not  know  that  it  tended  so  fatally 
to  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  gospel,  and  ruin  for  eternity  the 
souls  of  men.  You  do  know  it,  or  have  the  means  of  knowing 
it.  You  cannot  sin  with  as  little  guilt  as  did  your  fathers.  The 
facts,  which  are  the  voice  of  God  in  his  providence  and  manifest 
his  will,  are  now  before  the  world.  By  them  he  has  come  and 
spoken  to  you.  And  if  you  continue,  under  these  circumstances, 
to  violate  his  will,  you  will  have  no  cloak,  no  covering,  no  ex- 
cuse for  your  sin.  And  though  sentence  against  this  evil  work 
is  not  executed  at  once,  judgment,  if  you  continue,  will  not  lin- 
ger, nor  will  damnation  slumber. 

The  accessary  and  the  principal  in  the  commission  of  crime, 
are  both  guilty.  Both  by  human  laws  are  condemned.  The 
principle  applies  to  the  law  of  God;  and  not  only  drunkards,  but 
drunkard-makers — not  only  murderers,  but  those  who  excite  them 
to  commit  murder,   and  furnish  them  with  the  known  cause  of 


213]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  103 

their  evil  deeds,  will,  if  they  understand  what  they  do,  and  con- 
tinue thus  to  rebel  against  God,  be  shut  out  of  heaven. 

Among  the  Jews,  if  a  man  had  a  beast,  that  went  out  and 
killed  a  man,  the  beast,  said  Jehovah,  shall  be  slain,  and  his 
flesh  shall  not  be  eaten.  The  owner  must  lose  the  whole  of  him, 
as  a  testimony  to  the  sacredness  of  human  life;  and  a  warning 
to  all,  not  to  do  any  thing,  or  connive  at  any  thing,  that  tended 
to  destroy  it.  But  the  owner,  if  he  did  not  know  that  the  beast 
was  dangerous  and  liable  to  kill,  was  not  otherwise  to  be  pun- 
ished. But  if  he  did  know,  if  it  had  been  testified  to  the  owner 
that  the  beast  was  dangerous  and  liable  to  kill,  and  he  did  not 
keep  him  in,  but  let  him  go  out,  and  he  killed  a  man,  then,  by 
the  direction  of  Jehovah,  the  beast  and  the  owner  were  both  to 
be  put  to  death.  The  owner,  under  these  circumstances,  was 
held  responsible,  and  justly  too,  for  the  injury  which  his  beast 
might  do.  Though  men  are  not  required,  or  permitted  now,  to 
execute  this  law,  as  they  were  when  God  was  the  Magistrate, 
yet  the  reason  of  the  law  remains.  It  is  founded  in  justice,  and 
is  eternal.  To  the  pauperism,  crime,  sickness,  insanity,  and 
death,  temporal  and  eternal,  which  ardent  spirit  occasions, 
those  who  knowingly  furnish  the  materials,  those  who  manufac- 
ture, and  those  who  sell  it,  are  all  accessory,  and  as  such  will 
be  held  responsible  at  the  divine  tribunal.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  owners  did  not  know  the  dangerous  and  destructive 
qualities  of  this  article — when  the  facts  had  not  been  developed 
and  published,  nor  the  minds  of  men  turned  to  the  subject;  when 
they  did  not  know  that  it  caused  such  a  vast  portion  of  the  vice 
and  wretchedness  of  the  community,  and  such  wide-spreading 
desolation  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of  men;  and 
although  it  then  destroyed  thousands,  for  both  worlds,  the  guilt 
of  the  men  who  sold  it,  was  comparatively  small.  But  now 
they  sin  against  light,  pouring  down  upon  them  with  unutterable 
brightness;  and  if  they  know  what  they  do,  and  in  full  view  of 
its  consequences,  continue  that  work  of  death — not  only  let  the 
poison  go  out,  but  furnish  it,  and  send  it  out  to  all  who  are  dis- 
posed to  purchase, — it  had  been  better  for  them,  and  better  for 
many  others,  if  they  had  never  been  born.     For, 

1.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  without  the  use  of  which,  nearly  all 
the  business  of  this  world  was  conducted,  till  within  less  than 
three  hundred  years;   and  which  of  course  is  not  needful. 

2.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  which  was  not  generally  used  by 
the  people  of  this  country,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after 
the  country  was  settled;  and  which,  by  hundreds  of  thousands, 
and  some  in  all  kinds  of  lawful  business,  is  not  used  now.  Once 
they  did  use  it,  and  thought  it  needful,  or  useful.  But  by  exper- 
iment, the  best  evidence  in  the  world,  they  have  found  that  they 
were  mistaken;  and  that  they  are  in  all  respects  better  without 
it.     And  the  cases  are  so   numerous  as  to  make  it  certain,  that 


104  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [214 

should  the   experiment  be  fairly  made,   this  would  be  the  case 
with  all.     Of  course,  it  is  not  useful. 

3.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  is  a  real,  a  subtil,  and  very 
destructive  poison;  a  poison,  which  by  men  in  health  cannot  be 
taken,  without  deranging  healthy  action,  and  inducing  more  or 
less  disease,  both  of  body  and  mind;  which  is, when  taken  in 
any  quantity,  positively  hurtful;  and  which  is,  of  course,  forbid- 
den by  the  word  of  God. 

4.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  which  tends  to  form  an  unnatural 
and  a  very  dangerous  and  destructive  appetite;  which,  by  grati- 
fication, like  the  desire  of  sinning  in  the  man  who  sins,  tends  con- 
tinually to  increase;  and  which  thus  exposes  all  who  form  it,  to 
come  to  a  premature  grave. 

5.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  which  causes  a  great  portion  of  all 
the  pauperism  in  our  land;  and  thus  for  the  benefit  of  a  few, 
(those  who  sell)  brings  an  enormous  tax  on  the  whole  communi- 
ty. Is  this  fair?  Is  it  just?  Is  it  not  exposing  our  children 
and  youth  to  become  drunkards?  And  is  it  not  inflicting  great 
evils  on  society? 

6.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  which  excites  to  a  great  portion  of 
all  the  crimes  that  are  committed;  and  which  is  thus  shown  to  be 
in  its  effects  hostile  to  the  moral  government  of  God,  and  to  the 
social,  civil,  and  religious  interests  of  men;  at  war  with  their 
highest  good,  both  for  this  life  and  the  life  to  come. 

7.  It  is  the  selling  of  that,  the  sale  and  use  of  which,  if  con- 
tinued, will  form  intemperate  appetites,  which  if  formed  will  be 
gratified;  and  thus  will  perpetuate  intemperance,  and  all  its 
abominations,  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

8.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  makes  wives  widows,  and  chil- 
dren orphans;  which  leads  husbands  often  to  murder  their  wives, 
and  wives  to  murder  their  husbands;  parents  to  murder  their 
children,  and  children  to  murder  their  parents;  and  which  pre- 
pares multitudes  for  the  prison,  for  the  gallows,  and  for  hell. 

9.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  greatly  increases  the  amount 
and  severity  of  sickness;  which  in  many  cases  destroys  reason; 
which  causes  a  great  portion  of  all  the  sudden  deaths;  and  brings 
down  multitudes,  who  were  never  intoxicated,  and  never  con- 
demned to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the  civil  law,  to  an  untimely 
grave. 

10.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  tends  to  lessen  the  health, 
the  reason,  and  the  usefulness,  to  diminish  the  comfort  and  short- 
en the  lives  of  all  who  habitually  use  it. 

11.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  darkens  the  understanding, 
$&%xa  the  conscience,  pollutes  the  affections,  and  debases  all 
the  powers  of  man. 

12.  It  is  the  selling  of  that  which  weakens  the  power  of  mo- 
tives to  do  right,  and  increases  the  power  of  motives  to  do  wrong; 
and  is  thus  shown  to  be  in  its  effects  hostile  to  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God,  as  well  as  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  of 


215J         FIFTH  REPORT. 1S32. APPENDIX.  105 

men;  which  excites  men  to  rebel  against  him,  and  to  injure  and 
destroy  one  another.  And  no  man  can  sell  it  without  exerting 
an  influence  which  tends  to  hinder  the  reign  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  and  to  lead  them  to 
persevere  in  iniquity,  till,  notwithstanding  all  the  kindness  of  Je- 
hovah, their  case  shall  become  hopeless. 

No.  IV. 
Suppose  a  man,  when  about  to  commence  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  should  write  in  great  capitals  on  his  sign-board,  to  be  seen 
and  read  of  all  men,  what  he  will  do,  viz.  that  so  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  town  or  city,  he  will,  for  the  sake  of  getting  their 
money,  make  paupers,  and  send  them  to  the  alms-house ;  and  thus 
oblige  the  whole  community  to  support  them  and  their  families; 
that  so  many  others  he  will  excite  to  the  commission  of  crimes, 
and  thus  increase  the  expenses,  and  endanger  the  peace  and 
welfare  of  the  community ;  that  so  many  he  will  send  to  the  jail,  and 
so  many  more  to  the  state  prison,  and  so  many  to  the  gallows  ; 
that  so  many  he  will  visit  with  sore  and  distressing  diseases; 
and,  in  so  many  cases,  diseases  which  would  have  been  compar- 
atively harmless,  he  will  by  his  poison  render  fatal;  that  in  so 
many  cases  he  will  deprive  persons  of  reason,  and  in  so  many 
cases  will  cause  sudden  death;  that  so  many  wives  he  will  make 
widows,  and  so  many  children  he  will  make  orphans,  and  that  in 
so  many  cases  he  will  cause  the  children  to  grow  up  in  ignorance, 
vice,  and  crime,  and  after  being  nuisances  on  earth,  will  bring 
them  to  a  premature  grave;  that  in  so  many  cases  he  will  pre- 
vent the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  grieve  away  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
ruin  for  eternity  the  souls  of  men.  And  suppose  he  could,  and 
should  give  some  faint  conception  of  what  it  is  to  lose  the  soul, 
and  of  the  overwhelming  guilt  and  coining  wretchedness  of  him 
who  is  knowingly  instrumental  in  producing  this  ruin;  and  sup- 
pose he  should  put  at  the  bottom  of  the  sign  this  question,  viz. 
What,  you  may  ask,  can  be  my  object  in  acting  so  much  like  a 
devil  incarnate,  and  bringing  such  accumulated  wretchedness 
upon  a  comparatively  happy  people?  and  under  it  should  put 
the  true  answer,  Money;  and  go  on  to  say,  I  have  a  family  to 
support;  I  want  money,  and  must  have  it;  this  is  my  business,  1 
was  brought  up  to  it.  And  if  I  should  not  follow  it,  I  must  change 
my  business,  or  I  could  not  support  my  family.  And  as  all  faces 
begin  to  gather  blackness  at  the  approaching  ruin,  and  all  hearts 
to  boil  with  indignation  at  its  author,  suppose  he  should  add, 
for  their  consolation,  "  If  I  do  not  bring  this  destruction  upon  you, 
somebody  else  will  "  What  would  they  think  of  him?  what 
would  all  the  world  think  of  him?  what  ought  they  to  think  of 
him?  And  is  it  any  worse  for  a  man  to  tell  the  people  before- 
hand, honestly,  what  he  will  do,  if  they  buy  and  use  his  poison, 
than  it  is  to  go  on  and  do  it  ?  And  what  if  they  are  not  aware 
of  the  mischief  which  he  is  doing  them,  and  he  can  accomplish 
15* 


106  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [216 

it,  through  their  own  perverted  and  voluntary  agency?  Is  it  not 
equally  abominable,  if  he  knows  it,  and  does  not  cease  from  pro- 
ducing it? 

And  if  there  are  churches  whose  members  are  doing  such  things, 
and  those  churches  are  not  blessed  with  the  presence  and  favor 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  they  need  not  be  at  any  loss  for  the  reason. 
And  if  they  should  never  again,  while  they  continue  in  this 
state,  be  blessed  with  the  reviving  influence  of  God's  Spirit,  they 
need  not  be  at  any  loss  for  the  reason.  Their  own  members  are 
exerting  a  strong  and  fatal  influence  against  it;  and  that  too, 
after  Divine  Providence  has  shown  them  what  they  are  doing. 
And  in  many  such  cases  there  is  awful  guilt,  with  regard  to  this 
thing,  resting  upon  the  whole  church.  Though  they  have  known 
for  years  what  these  men  were  doing;  have  seen  the  misery, 
heard  the  oaths,  witnessed  the  crimes,  and  known  the  wretched- 
ness and  deaths,  which  they  have  occasioned;  and  perhaps  have 
spoken  of  it,  and  deplored  it  among  one  another;  many  of  them 
have  never  spoken  on  this  subject,  to  the  persons  themselves. 
They  have  seen  them  scattering  firebrands,  arrows,  and  death, 
temporal  and  eternal;  and  yet  have  never  so  much  as  warned 
them  on  the  subject,  and  never  besought  them  to  give  up  their 
work  of  death.  An  individual  lately  conversed  with  one  of  his 
professed  Christian  brethren,  who  was  engaged  in  this  traffic, 
and  told  him  not  only  that  he  was  ruining  for  both  worlds  many 
of  his  fellow-men,  but  that  his  Christian  brethren  viewed  his 
business  as  inconsistent  with  his  profession,  and  tending  to  coun- 
teract all  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  men:  and  the  man,  after 
frankly  acknowledging  that  it  was  wrong,  said  that  this  was  the 
first  time  that  any  one  of  them  had  conversed  with  him  on  the 
subject.  This  may  be  the  case  with  other  churches;  and  while 
it  is,  the  whole  church  is  conniving  at  the  evil,  and  the  whole 
church  is  guilty.  Every  brother  in  such  a  case  is  bound,  on  his 
own  account,  to  converse  with  him  who  is  thus  aiding  the  powers 
of  darkness,  and  opposing  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  try 
to  persuade  him  to  cease  from  this  destructive  business.  And 
the  whole  church  is  bound  to  make  efforts,  and  use  all  proper 
means,  to  accomplish  this  result.  And  before  half  the  individual 
members  have  done  their  duty  on  this  subject,  they  may  expect, 
if  the  offending  brother  has,  and  manifests  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
that  he  will  cease  to  be  an  offence  to  his  brethren,  and  a  stumb- 
ling-block to  the  world,  over  which  such  multitudes  fall  to  the 
pit  of  woe.  And  till  the  church,  the  whole  church,  do  their  duty 
on  this  subject,  they  cannot  be  freed  from  the  guilt  of  conniving 
at  the  evil.  And  no  wonder  if  the  Lord  leaves  them  to  be  as  the 
mountains  of  Gilboa,  on  which  there  was  neither  rain  or  dew. 
And  should  the  church  receive  from  the  world  those  who  make  it 
a  business  to  carry  on  this  notoriously  immoral  traffic,  they  will 
greatly  increase  their  guilt,  and  ripen  for  the  awful  displeasure 
of  their  God.     And  unless  members  of  the  church  shall  cease  to 


£17]  FIFTH    REPORT. 1632. — APPENDIX.  107 

teach,  by  their  business,  that  fatal  error  that  it  is  right  for  men 
to  buy  and  use  ardent  spirit  as  drink,  the  evil  will  never  be 
eradicated;  intemperance  will  never  cease,  and  the  clay  of  mil- 
lennial glory  never  come.  And  each  individual  who  names  the 
name  of  Christ,  is  called  upon,  by  the  providence  of  God,  to  act 
on  this  subject  openly  and  decidedly  for  him;  and  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  is  adapted  to  banish  intemperance  and  all  its  abominations 
from  the  earth,  and  to  cause  temperance  and  all  its  attendant 
benefits  universally  to  prevail.  And  if  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
and  members  of  Christian  churches  do  not  connive  at  the  sin  of 
furnishing  this  poison  as  a  drink,  for  their  fellow-men;  and  men 
who,  in  opposition  to  truth  and  duty,  continue  to  be  engaged  in 
this  destructive  employment,  are  viewed  and  treated  as  wicked 
men;  the  work  which  the  Lord  hath  commenced  and  carried 
forward,  with  a  rapidity  and  to  an  extent  hitherto  unexampled  in 
the  history  of  the  world,  will  continue  to  move  onward,  till  not 
a  name,  nor  a  trace,  nor  a  shadow  of  a  drunkard,  or  a  drunkard- 
maker  shall  be  found  on  the  globe. 

Professed  Christian: — You  have  been  redeemed,  not  with 
silver,  nor  with  gold,  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Jesus  Christ. 
When  all  were  dead,  he  died  for  all,  that  they  who  live  should  not 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  that  died  for  them  and  rose 
again.  And  the  distinguishing  mark  of  his  people,  is,  that  no 
one  of  them,  liveth  unto  himself;  ane  no  one  dieth  unto  himself. 
While  they  live  they  live  unto  the  Lord,  and  when  they  die  they 
die  unto  the  Lord.  And  it  is  on  this  condition  only,  that,  living 
or  dying,  they  can  be  the  Lord's,  in  such  a  sense  as  to  meet  his 
approbation  or  enter  into  his  joy.  They  must  make  it  the  grand 
object  in  their  whole  influence,  to  honor  him,  and  promote  the 
holiness  and  happiness  of  his  kingdom;  to  glorify  the  God  of 
heaven,  and  to  do  good,  and  good  only,  as  they  have  opportunity, 
to  all  men.  And  it  is  only  on  this  condition,  that  they  can  be 
owned  of  him  as  his  followers  and  friends  in  the  great  day;  for 
he  that  is  not  for  him  is  against  him,  and  he  that  gathereth  not 
with  him,  scattereth  abroad. 

In  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  you  do 
not,  and  you  cannot  honor  God;  but  you  do,  and  so  long  as  you 
continue  it  you  will,  greatly  dishonor  Him.  You  exert  an  influ- 
ence which  tends  directly  and  strongly  to  ruin,  for  both  worlds, 
your  fellow-men.  Should  you  take  a  quantity  of  that  poisonous 
liquid  into  your  closet,  present  it  before  the  Lord;  confess  to 
him  its  nature  and  effects,  spread  out  before  him  what  it  has 
done  and  what  it  will  do,  and  attempt  to  ask  him  to  bless  you  in 
extending  its  influence;  it  would,  unless  your  conscience  is  al- 
ready seared  as  with  a  hot  iron,  appear  to  you  like  blasphemy. 
You  could  no  more  do  it,  than  you  could  take  the  instruments 
of  gambling,  and  attempt  to  ask  God  to  bless  you  in  extending 
them  through  the  communily.  And  why  not,  if  it  is  a  lawful 
business  ?      Why  not  ask  God   to    increase    it,  make  you    an 


108  AMERICAN    TE^IPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [2 1 S 

instrument  in  extending  it  over  the  country,  and  perpetuating  it 
to  all  future  generations.  Even  the  worldly  and  profane  man, 
when  he  hears  about  professing  Christians  offering  prayer  to  God, 
that  he  would  bless  them  in  the  manufacture  or  sale  of  ardent 
spirit,  involuntarily  shrinks  back,  and  says,  "  That  is  too  bad." 
He  can  see  that  it  is  an  abomination.  And  if  it  is  too  bad  for  a 
professed  Christian  to  pray  about  it,  is  it  not  too  bad  for  him  to 
practise  it?  If  you  continue,  under  all  the  light  which  God  in 
his  providence  has  furnished  with  regard  to  its  hurtful  nature 
and  destructive  effects,  to  furnish  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  for 
your  fellow-men,  you  will  run  the  fearful  hazard  of  losing  your 
soul;  and  you  will  exert  an  influence  which  powerfully  tends  to 
destroy  tbe  souls  of  your  fellow-men.  Every  time  you  furnish  it, 
you  are  rendering  it  less  likely  that  they  will  be  illuminated, 
sanctified,  and  saved;  and  more  likely  that  they  will  continue  in 
sin,  and  go  down  to  the  chambers  of  death.  And  could  the 
quantities  of  spirit  which  you  furnish  come  back  and  tell  you 
the  history  of  their  effects,  and  trace  their  consequences  down 
through  future  ages;  could  they  open  before  you  their  results, 
as  you  will  see  them  in  eternity,  you  would  not,  unless  you  are 
given  up  of  God  to  hardness  of  heart  and  blindness  of  mind,  con- 
tinue such  an  employment  for  all  the  wealth  of  creation.  You 
would  see  with  great  clearness  that  you  lessen  exceedingly  the 
prospect  of  your  own  salvation  ;  increase  greatly  the  danger  of 
the  destruction  of  your  children;  and  exert  an  influence  which 
tends  strongly  to  perpetuate  sin  and  death  to  all  future  genera- 
tions. And  can  you,  while  you  continue  knowingly  to  do  this, 
without  presumption,  hope  for  heaven?  What  if  you  do  not  sell 
to  drunkards,  and  thus  assist  in  killing  them?  Do  you  not  assist 
in  making  drunkards  of  sober  men?  And  is  it  a  le?ts  crime  to 
assist  in  destroying  sober  men,  than  in  destroying  drunkards? 
What  if  you  must  change  your  business,  provided  you  do  not 
continue  to  sell  ardent  spirit?  So  must  the  makers  of  shrines 
for  the  goddess  Diana  have  changed  their  business,  provided 
her  temple  were  deserted,  and  her  worship  despised.  But  was 
that  any  good  reason  why  they  should  continue  to  be  accessory 
to  the  perpetuating  of  idol  worship?  Could  professed  Chris- 
tians, for  the  sake  of  money,  continue  to  do  it,  without  being  par- 
takers in  the  guilt  of  idolatry?  And  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that 
covctoimiess.  which  leads  a  person  for  the  sake  of  money  to  ruin 
his  fellow-men,  is  idolatry;  and  that  no  idolater  hath  any  inheri- 
tance in  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  cl  Neither  thieves,  nor  covetous, 
nor  drunkards,  shall  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Long  after  Jeroboam  the  son  of  Nebat  wa3  dead,  God  declared 
that  he  would  visit  with  indignation,  and  afflict  with  sore  and  dis- 
tressing judgments,  the  people  that  were  then  living,  for  the  in- 
iquities of  Jeroboam,  and  his  sin  wherewith  he  made  Israel  to 
sin.  Not  that  he  would  punish  them  for  the  sins  of  Jeroboam; 
but  for  their  believing  the  d  >etrines  which  he  taught,  and  follow- 


219]         FIFTH  REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  109 

ing  the  example  which  he  set  them.  He  taught,  by  example  that 
it  was  right,  and  would  be  for  their  interest  to  worship  idols;  or 
to  pursue  their  own  way  in  opposition  to  the  will  of  God.  And 
the  effects  of  that  fatal  error  were  felt  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
years  after  he  was  dead;  and  exerted  an  influence  which  tended 
to  lead  multitudes  from  generation  to  generation  to  the  world  of 
wo.  And  your  example,  if  you  continue  your  present  course, 
will  produce  similar  effects.  You  are  teaching  by  business,  the 
most  efficacious  way  in  the  world,  that  it  is  right  for  men,  if  they 
can  make  money  by  it,  and  the  civil  law  does  not  forbid  it,  to 
furnish  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  for  their  fellow-men;  and  of 
course  that  it  is  right  for  men  to  buy,  and  to  use  it;  a  doctrine 
which  has  tended  to  form  a  great  portion  of  all  the  intemperate 
appetites  and  to  make  a  great  part  of  all  the  drunkards  in  the 
world.  It  is  a  doctrine  which  is  false,  and  which  is  fatal.  It  is 
marked  in  the  providence  of  God,  as  a  heresy,  more  destructive 
than  almost  any  other;  and  it  is  now,  there  is  reason  to  believe, 
destroying  thousands  and  millions  of  souls.  And  can  you,  for 
the  sake  of  money,  continue  to  teach  such  a  doctrine,  and  not  be 
condemned  at  God's  tribunal?  Nor  will  the  effects  of  what  you 
have  taught  on  this  subject,  stop  with  you.  They  will  go  down 
to  your  children,  and  children's  children.  Hundreds  of  years  after 
you  are  dead,  men  may  be  going  down  to  death,  and  to  hell,  in 
consequence  of  what  you  are  now  doing.  It  is  treason  against  the 
divine  government,  for  men  to  teach  by  example  that  they  may 
continue  in  a  business  which  is  in  itself  wrong,  for  the  sake  of 
making  money.  And  no  man  can  proclaim  it,  without  raising  a 
current,  that  may  flow  on  after  he  is  dead,  and  bear  all  who  shall 
follow  it  to  the  world  of  wo.  And  the  more  respectable  the 
character  of  the  man  who  shall  teach  this  doctrine,  the  greater  the 
mischief,  and  (he  more  tremendous  the  guilt.  Hence  one  church 
member  by  propagating  such  a  doctrine,  may  do  more  mischief  to 
others,  than  many  drunkards.  If  the  drunkard-making  business 
is  to  be  continued,  let  it  be  done  only  by  drunkards.  It  is  a 
business  too  mean,  too  degraded,  too  immoral,  too  guilty,  and 
too  destructive  to  be  carried  on  by  any  sober  man;  and  especial- 
ly by  any  professed  Christian. 

It  is  always  worse  for  a  church  member  to  do  an  immoral  act, 
and  teach  an  immoral  sentiment,  than  for  an  immoral  man;  be- 
cause it  does  greater  mischief.  And  this  is  understood,  and 
often  adverted  to,  by  the  immoral  themselves.  Even  the  drunk- 
ards are  now  stating  it  to  their  fellow  drunkards,  that  church 
members  are  not  better  than  they.  And  to  prove  it,  are  quot- 
ing the  fact,  that  although  they  are  not  drunkards,  and  perhaps 
do  not  get  drunk,  they,  for  the  sake  of  money,  carry  on  the  busi- 
ness of  making  drunkards.  And  are  not  the  men  and  their  busi- 
ness of  the  same  character?  "  The  deacon,"  says  a  drunkard, 
"  will  not  use  ardent  spirit  himself:  he  says  '  It  is  poison!  '  But 
for  six  cents  he  will  sell  it  to  me.     And  though  he  will  not  furnish 


I  10  AMERtCAV    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETT.  [220 

into  his  own  children,  for  he  says,  '  It  will  ruin  them,' yet  he  will 
furnish  to  mine.  And  there  is  my  neighbor  who  was  once  as  so- 
ber as  the  deacon  himself; — but  he  had  a  pretty  farm,  which  the 
deacon  wanted;  and,  for  the  sake  of  getting  it,  he  has  made  him 
a  drunkard.  And  his  wife,  as  good  a  woman  as  ever  lived,  has 
died  of  a  broken  heart,  because  her  children  would  follow  their 
father."  No,  you  cannot  convince  even  a  drunkard,  that  the 
man  who  is  selling  him  that  which  he  knows  is  killing  him,  is  any 
better  than  the  drunkard  himself.  Nor  can  you  convince  a  so- 
ber man,  that  he,  who,  for  the  sake  of  money,  will,  with  his  eyes 
open,  make  drunkards  of  sober  men,  is  any  less  guilty  than  the 
drunkards  he  makes. 

Is  this,  writing  upon  your  employment  "  Holiness  unto  the 
Lord;  "  without  which  no  one  from  the  Bible  can  expect  to  be 
prepared  for  the  holy  joys  of  heaven?  As  ardent  spirit  is  a  poi- 
son, which  when  used  even  moderately,  tends  to  harden  the 
heart,  to  sear  the  conscience,  to  blind  the  understanding,  to  pol- 
lute the  affections,  to  weaken,  and  derange,  and  debase  the 
whole  man,  and  to  lessen  the  prospect  of  his  eternal  life,  it  is  the 
indispensable  duty  of  each  person  to  renounce  it.  And  he  can- 
not refuse  to  do  this,  without  becoming,  if  acquainted  with  this 
subject,  knowingly  accessory  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  ruin  of 
his  fellow-men.  And  what  will  it  profit  you  to  gain  even  the 
whole  world  by  that  which  ruins  the  soul?  My  friend,  you  are 
soon  to  die,  and  in  eternity  to  witness  the  influence,  the  whole 
influence  which  you  exert  while  on  earth,  and  you  are  to  witness 
its  consequence,  in  joy  or  sorrow,  to  endless  being.  Imagine 
yourself  now,  where  you  will  soon  be,  on  your  death  bed.  And 
imagine  that  you  have  a  full  view  of  the  property  which  you  have 
caused  to  be  wasted;  or  which  you  have  gained  without  furnish- 
ing any  valuable  equivalent;  of  the  health  which  you  have  de- 
stroyed, and  the  characters  which  you  have  demoralized;  of  the 
wives  that  you  have  made  widows,  and  the  children  that  you  have 
made  orphans;  of  all  the  lives  that  you  have  shortened,  and  all 
the  souls  that  you  have  destroyed.  O!  imagine  that  these  are 
the  only  "  rod  and  staff"  which  you  have  to  comfort  you,  as  you 
go  down  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death;  and  that  they  will  all 
meet  you  in  full  array  at  the  judgment,  and  testify  against  you. 
What  will  it  profit,  you,  though  you  have  gained  more  money 
than  you  otherwise  would;  when  you  have  left  it  all  far  behind 
in  that  world  which  is  destined  to  fire,  and  the  day  of  perdition 
of  ungodly  men?  What  will  it  profit,  when  you  are  enveloped  in 
the  influence  which  you  have  exerted;  and  are  experiencing  its 
consequences  to  endles  ages,  rinding  forever  that  as  a  man  sow- 
eth  so  must  he  reap;  and  that  if  he  has  sowed  death,  he  must 
reap  death?  Do  not  any  longer  assist  in  destroying  men ;  nor 
expose  yourselves  and  your  children  to  be  destroyed.  Do  good, 
and  good  only,  to  all  as  you  have  opportunity  and  good  shall 
come  unto  you. 


221]  FIFTH    REPOKT. 1832. APFENDIX.  Ill 

II.   (P.  43.) 

\6lhJune,  1830. 

Measures  are  in  progress  to  supply  each  family  in  this  town 
with  the  Circular  of  the  A.  T.  S.  and  Ware's  Address  before  the 
T.  S.  of  Cambridge.  Some  other  towns  in  this  county  are  dis- 
tributing the  Circular;   and  it  is   probable   it   will    soon  go   into 

every  house  in  the   county.     1  feel  under  obligations  to 

for  their  generous   offer,    and   feel    heartily   willing   to   pay 

them  in  their  own  coin, — and  will  pay  more  than  my  share  of  the 
expense  of  supporting  an  agent  who  is  qualified  for  the  impor- 
tant duty — to  be  employed  in  the  metropolis  of  the  U.  S.  in  go- 
ing from  merchant  to  merchant  who  may  deal  in  ardent  spirits 
in  any  way;  either  as  commission  merchants,  importers,  distil- 
lers, or  grocers.  These  are  the  men,  who  arc  commanders  of 
the  great  army  of  retailers,  not  only  in  the  great  city,  but  through 
the  country;  and  not  only  commanders,  but  they  fill  the  depots 
from  which  this  desolating  army  are  furnished  with  ammunition. 
If  this  class  of  human  beings,  who  are  styled  gentlemen,  could  by 
any  means  be  persuaded  to  wash  their  hands  from  dealing  in  this 
"  mother  of  miseries,"  the  retailers  would  be  like  the  armies  of 
the  Philistines,  when  Goliah  fell  by  David. — But  so  long  as  the 
little  retailers  can  have  such  champions  as  the  most  opulent  mer- 
chants in  Boston  and  New- York,  persuading  them  to  purchase 
the  article,  and  daily  advertising  all  sorts  and  all  quantities 
in  the  business  papers,  they  will  stand  out  in  battle  array  against 
the  efforts  of  Temperance  Societies.  I  fervently  believe,  that 
the  temperance  reformation  cannot  progress  farther  in  this 
region,  until  these  men  are  made  to  see  and  feel  the  evil 
of  their  deeds.  To  my  certain  knowledge,  some  of  the 
officers  of  the  oldest  society  in  this  state,  within  one  year  were 
large  dealers  in  the  poison,  in  Boston.  With  one  hand  they 
would  hand  out  tracts  on  the  evils  of  intemperance,  or  money  to 
pay  temperance  agents,  and  with  the  other,  hand  out  (perhaps 
to  the  same  persons)  bills  of  rum  sufficient  to  make  a  hundred 
drunkards  !  I  pray  Him  who  is  able  to  make  men  feel.,  that  the 
time  may  soon  come  when  men  who  move  in  the  highest  circles, 
and  where  example  rules  the  world,  many  of  whom  profess  to  be 
His  followers,  may  see  the  gross  inconsistency  of  their  conduct, 
and  renounce  every  species  of  the  rum  trade.  The  country 
dealers  who  yet  make  drunkards  would  he  looked  down,  were 
they  not  sanctioned  in  their  evil  deeds  by  naen  of  the  highest 
standing  in  Boston  and  New-York. 

You  know  Gen.  Washington  pointed  out  the  evils  of  short  en- 
listments, and  urged  the  enlistments  of  "  during  war  men.1'  The 
temperance  cause  has  suffered  much  from  short  enlistments.  1 
hope  you  will  urge  the  necessity  to  all  who  enlist  in  our  great 
and  good  cause,  of  engaging  during  war.     (Genius  of  Temp.) 


112  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY,  [222 


I.   (P. -14.) 

The  Pastoral  Association,  and  the  General  Associations  of 
Massachusetts,  and  the  General  Association  of  Connecticut  and 
Maine,  embracing  more  than  five  hundred  Evangelical  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  at  their  last  meeting,  passed  the  following  Resolu- 
tions, viz. 

1.  Resolved,  that  in  the  judgment  of  this  Association,  the  traf- 
fic in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be 
viewed  and  treated  as  such  throughout  the  world. 

2.  Resolved,  that  this  immorality  is  utterly  inconsistent  with  a 
profession  of  the  Christian  religion;  and  that  those  who  have  the 
means  of  understanding  its  nature  and  effects,  and  yet  continue 
to  be  engaged  in  it,  ought  not  to  be  admitted  as  members  of 
Christian  churches. 

3.  Resolved,  that  in  our  view  those  members  of  Christian 
churches  who  continue  to  be  engaged  in  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit  as  a  drink,  are  violating  the  principles  and  requirements  of 
the  Christian  religion. 

"Among  the  means  which  the  Lord  has  graciously  owned 
and  blessed  during  this  year  of  jubilee,  many  of  your  reports 
specially  commemorate  the  influence  of  Temperance  Societies. 
It  is  now  a  well-established  fact,  that  the  common  use  of  strong 
drink,  however  moderate,  has  been  a  fatal,  soul-destroying  bar- 
rier against  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  Consequently,  when- 
ever total  abstinence  is  practised,  a  powerful  instrument  of  re- 
sisting the  Holy  Spirit  is  removed,  and  a  new  avenue  of  access 
to  the  hearts  of  men,  opened  to  the  power  of  truth.  Thus,  in 
numerous  instances,  and  in  various  places,  during  the  past  year, 
the  temperance  reformation  has  been  a  harbinger,  preparing  the 
way  of  the  Lord;  and  the  banishment  of  that  liquid  poison,  which 
kills  both  soul  and  body,  has  made  way  for  the  immediate  en- 
trance of  the  Spirit  and  the  word,  the  glorious  tram  of  the  Re- 
deemer. 

The  cause  of  temperance  continues  to  extend  and  multiply  its 
triumphs,  notwithstanding  the  machinations  of  Satan,  and  the  mad- 
ness of  the  multitudes,  who  are  striving  to  demolish  the  only  har- 
rier which  can  secure  them  from  destruction.  The  testimony  of 
our  churches,  as  to  the  signal  success,  which  has  crowned  tin! 
efforts  of  the  friends  of  this  cause,  the  astonishing  effect  which 
has  thus  been  produced  upon  public  sentiment,  and  upon  the 
habits  and  customs  of  the  higher  classes,  and  especially  as  to  the 
unquestionable  connection  between  total  abstinence  from  ardent 
spirits,  and  the  success  of  the  gospel,  is  of  the  most  decided  and 
gratifying  character.  The  formation  of  a  Temperance  Associa- 
tion in  each  congregation,  has  taken  place  extensively,  with  the 
happiest  results.  While,  therefore,  in  view  of  these  things,  the 
friends  of  temperance  are  called   upon  to  thank   God   and  take 


223]         FIFTH  REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  113 

courage;  let  them  remember  that  much,  very  much,  remains  to 
be  done.  Let  them  not  remit  their  vigilance  and  activity;  for 
their  foes  never  slumber.  All  the  powers  and  resources  of  the 
kingdom  of  darkness  are  vigorously  employed  in  opposition. 
Much  indeed  has  been  done,  in  staying  this  plague,  among  the 
more  intelligent  and  elevated  orders  of  society;  but  all  the  en- 
ergies of  Christian  benevolence  are  demanded,  to  stem  the  tor- 
rent which  is  spreading  misery,  and  guilt,  and  ruin,  through  the 
dwellings  of  labor  and  poverty.  A  great  work  is  still  to  be 
effected  in  the  church.  The  sons  of  Levi  must  be  purified.  The 
accursed  thing  must  be  removed  from  the  camp  of  the  Lord. 
While  professing  Christians  continue  to  exhibit  the  baleful  ex- 
ample, of  tasting  the  drunkard's  poison;  or,  by  a  sacrilegious 
traffic,  to  make  it  their  employment  to  degrade  and  destroy  their 
fellow-men;  those  who  love  the  Lord  must  not  keep  silence, 
but  must  lift  their  warning  voice,  and  use  all  lawful  efforts,  to 
remove  this  withering  reproach  from  the  house  of  God.  Let  all 
our  congregations  become  efficient  Temperance  Associations  ; 
let  all  our  ministers  and  elders  be  united,  consistent  and  perse- 
vering in  this  cause,  and  we  may  derive  from  experience  a  full 
persuasion,  that  the  ravages  of  the  direful  foe  will  be  arrested; 
that  the  rising  race  will  be  rescued  from  his  deadly  grasp,  and 
thus  a  most  formidable  obstacle,  to  the  success  of  the  Gospel, 
will  at  last  be  removed." 

(Minutes  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States,  1832.) 


jr.  (P.  48.) 

A  correspondent  in  a  Western  State  has  sent  us  the  following 
statement.     Its  truth  may  be  relied  on. 

An  owner  of  one  of  the  principal  taverns  in has  been 

heard  to  declare,  that  since  his  knowledge,  there  had  been  be- 
tween three  hundred  and  five  hundred  bar-keepers  in  that  tavern, 
and  out  of  the  whole  of  them  he  knew  but  eight  or  ten,  who  have 
not  ultimately  become  intemperate,  two  of  whom  are  yet  in  that 
tavern.  What  an  awful  warning  this  ought  to  be  to  those  pa- 
rents who  put  their  sons  to  tavern-keeping  !  What  an  enormous 
manufactory  of  drunkards  this  tavern  has  been!  And  yet  one 
of  the  owners  of  it,  who  has  kept  it  for  the  last  ten  or  twenty 
years,  and  who  knows  this  appalling  fact,  still  keeps  it,  and  makies 
profession  of  religion  !     (JV.  Y.  Evangelist.) 


16 


10* 


114  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [224 


K.  (P.  53.) 

Temperance  Reform  in  China. — The  Chinese  authorities  at 
Canton  have  caused  proclamations  to  be  pasted  on  the  walls, 
forbidding  the  sale  of  wine  or  spirits  to  foreign  seamen.  This 
measure  was  much  needed,  as  European  and  American  seamen, 
in  their  fits  of  intoxication,  have  often  disturbed  the  public  peace, 
and  sometimes  so  seriously  as  to  cause  the  suspension  of  com- 
mercial intercourse,  between  China  and  the  European  Nations. 
In  the  present  act  we  see  the  legislation  of  an  Asiatic  despot, 
directed  to  the  promotion  of  the  public  good;  we  see  a  heathen 
government  defending  its  subjects  from  the  immoralities  of  those 
who  claim  to  be  Christians;  we  see  a  salutary  guardianship  of 
the  morals  of  professed  Christians  and  republicans,  by  a  heathen 
monarch;  and  we  see  all  this  on  the  very  site  of  a  Christian  mis- 
sionary station,  designed  to  instruct  these  same  heathen,  in  the 
pure  precepts  of  our  religion.  Such  a  sight  should  make  Amer- 
icans blush,  and  send  Christians  to  their  closets,  weeping.  (Jour. 
Humanity.) 

Lu   (P.  53.) 

Important  Decision  in  Chancery.  The  Albany  Argus  contains 
the  following  extracts  from  the  decision  of  Chancellor  Walworth, 
in  the  case  of  Jacob  Hiller,  an  idiot  : — 

"  I  have  recently  learned  that  many  suits  at  law  have  been 
brought  against  idiots,  lunatics,  and  drunkards,  a<\er  the  appoint- 
ment of  committees  by  this  court;  and  sometimes  for  debts  con- 
tracted by  them  against  the  wishes  of  their  committee,  after  their 
appointment.  No  debt  contracted  by  the  idiot,  lunatic,  or  drunk- 
ard, under  such  circumstances,  can  be  paid  out  of  the  estate; 
and  if  paid  by  the  committee  without  the  sanction  of  this  court, 
although  after  a  recovery  at  law,  he  will  not  be  allowed  for  it  in 
the  settlement  of  his  accounts.  In  the  case  of  an  habitual  drunk- 
ard particularly,  if  the  committee  find  that  any  person  is  furnish- 
ing him  with  the  means  of  intoxication,  even  gratuitously,  -he 
should  apply  to  the  court  for  an  order,  restraining  all  persons 
from  furnishing  the  drunkard  with  ardent  spirits,  or  with  the 
means  of  obtaining  liquor,  upon  pain  of  contempt." 

His  Honor  also  directed  the  following  clause  to  be  added  to 
all  orders,  hereafter  to  be  entered,  appointing  committees  of  hab- 
itual drunkards  : — 

"And  it  is  further  ordered,  that  all  persons  be  restrained  from 
selling  to,  or  furnishing  said  habitual  drunkard,  or  any  person  for 
him,  with  ardent  spirits,  or  with  the  means  of  obtaining  the 
same,  without  the  express  sanction  of  this  said  committee,  under 
pain  of  a  contempt  of  this  court.  And  said  committee  is  hereby 
directed  to  serve  a  copy,  or  a  notice  of  this  order,   on  such  of 


225J  FIFTH    REPORT. 1832. APPENDIX.  115 

the  retailers  of  ardent  spirits  and  others  in  the  neighborhood  of 
said  individual  drunkard,  as  he  may  think  proper,  to  the  end 
that  they  may  not  hereafter  plead  ignorance  thereof." 

The  Commissioners  of  the  town  of  Athens,  Georgia,  have  im- 
posed a  tax  of  $500  on  every  person  who  shall  retail  spirituous 

liquors.      (Charleston  Courier.) 

The  Board  of  Health  of  the  city  of  Washington,  have  declared 
the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  to  be  a  nuisance,  and  passed  the  fol- 
lowing order  with  regard  to  it: — 

The  Board  being  fully  impressed  with  the  belief  that  the  use 
of  ardent  spirits  is  highly  prejudicial  to  health,  and  the  corporate 
authorities  having  decided  that  this  body  possess  full  power  to 
prohibit  and  remove  all  nuisances,  and  the  late  Attorney  Gener- 
.•:!,  Mr.  Wirt,  having  officially  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
Board  of  Health  have,  under  the  charter  and  the  acts  of  the  city 
councils,  sufficient  authority  to  do  any,  and  every  thing  which  the 
health  of  the  city   may  require; 

Therefore,  Resolved,  That  the  vending  of  ardent  spirit,  in  what- 
ever quantity,  is  considered  a  nuisance — and,  as  such,  is  hereby 
directed  to  be  discontinued  for  the  space  of  90  days  from  this  date. 
By  order  of  the  Board  of  Health.         James  Larnard,   Sec'y. 

As  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  a  nuisance,  not 
only  while  the  cholera  is  raging,  but  at  all  times,  because  it  is 
not,  only  needless,  but  hurtful ;  as  it  tends  to  produce  numerous  fatal 
diseases,  and  occasions  an  immense  waste  of  human  life,  and 
also  causes  the  ruin  of  many  souls,  it  is,  of  course,  a  manifest 
violation  of  the  will  of  God,  for  legislatures,  magistrates  or  any 
body  of  men,  to  grant  a  license  to  any  person  or  persons  to  en- 
gage in  it.  It  is  granting  a  license  for  the  commission  of  sin; 
and  as  such  will  be  viewed  and  treated  by  Jehovah,  and  ultimate- 
ly by  all  his  friends.  And  even  if  it  should  a  little  longer  con- 
tinue in  some  places  to  be  approbated  by  human  law,  no  man, 
under  the  cover  of  such  a  license,  or  any  other,  can  continue  to 
be  engaged  in  it,  without  exposing  himself,  in  proportion  as  the  ef- 
fects of  his  business  are  understood,  to  the  abhorrence  of  a  vir- 
tuous community,  and  the  indignation  of  the  Almighty. 

In  a  number  of  counties  in  the  State  of  Georgia,  the  members 
of  the  bar  have  formed  themselves  into  Temperance  Societies, 
on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  They 
have  addresses  delivered  on  the  subject  during  the  sitting  of  the 
courts,  and  are  accomplishing  great  good  to  the  community. 
The  committee  would  earnestly  recommend  that  a  similar  course 
be  pursued  throughout  the  country;  and  request  that  all  who 
are  disposed  to  promote  their  own  good  or  the  good  of  their  fel- 
low-men, would  do  the  following  things,  viz. 


116  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [226 

1.  Abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit;  from  the  furnishing 
and  from  the  manufacture  of  it,  and  also  from  the  traffic  in>  it. 

2.  That  they  would  not  in  any  way  aid  and  abet  in  perpetuating 
this  destructive  employment. 

3.  That  they  would  unite  with  Temperance  Societies;  and 
perseveringly  endeavor,  by  all  suitable  means,  to  lead  all  others  to 
do  the  same. 

4.  That  they  would  make  it  a  subject  of  united  and  unceasing 
prayer  to  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  this  good  work,  that  He 
would  guide  all  who  are,  or  may  be  engaged  in  it,  by  wisdom 
from  above;  that  their  efforts  may  spring  from  love  to  the  Saviour 
and  love  to  men,  and  be  continued  till  intemperance  has  ceased, 
that  all  future  generations  may  experience  the  benefit,  and  the 
glorv  be  given  to  God  for  ever. 


Should  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  cease  to  use  intoxicating 
liquor,  the  following  would  be  some  of  the  beneficial  results,  viz. — 

1.  Not  an  individual  would  hereafter  become  a  drunkard. 

2.  Many,  who  are  now  drunkards,  would  reform,  and  would  be  saved  from 
the  drunkard's  grave. 

3.  As  soon  as  those  who  would  not  reform  should  be  dead,  which  would  be 
but  a  short  time,  not  a  drunkard  would  be  found,  and  the  whole  land  would  be 
free. 

4.  More  than  three  fourths  of  the  pauperism  of  the  country  might  be  pre- 
vented ;  and  also  more  than  three  fourths  of  the  crimes. 

5.  One  of  the  grand  causes  of  error  in  principle,  and  immorality  in  practice, 
and  of  all  dissipation,  vice  and  wretchedness,  would  be  removed. 

6.  The  number,  frequency  and  severity  of  diseases  would  be  greatly  lessened  ; 
and  the  number  and  hopelessness  of  maniacs  in  our  land,  be  exceedingly  dimin- 
ished. 

7.  One  of  the  greatest  dangers  of  our  children  and  youth,  and  one  of  the 
principal  causes  of  bodily,  mental  and  moral  deterioration,  would  be  removed. 

8.  Loss  of  property,  in  one  generation,  to  an  amount  greater  than  the  present 
value  of  all  the  houses  and  lands  in  the  United  States,  might  be  prevented. 

9.  One  of  the  greatest  dangers  to  our  free  institutions,  to  the  perpetuity  of 
our  government,  and  to  all  the  blessings  of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  would  be 
removed. 

10.  The  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  all  the  means  which  God  has  appointed 
for  the  spiritual  and  eternal  good  of  men,  would  be  exceedingly  augmented  ; 
and  the  same  amount  of  moral  and  religious  effort  might  be  expected  to  pro- 
duce more  than  double  its  present  effects. 

11.  Multitudes  of  every  generation,  through  all  future  ages,  might  be  pre- 
vented from  sinking  into  an  untimely  grave,  and  into  endless  torment :  they 
slight  be  transformed  into  the  divine  image,  and  prepared,  through  grace,  for 
&e  eadlee*  joys  of  heaven. 

12.  God  would  be  honored,  voluntarily  and  actively,  by  much  greater  num- 
bers; and  with  greater  clearness,  and  to  a  greater  extent,  would,  through  their 
instrumentality,  manifest  his  glory. 


SIXTH   REPORT 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 


In  the  last  two  Reports  of  this  Society,  the  following  truths  were 
established,  viz.  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  not  needful,  or  useful. 
It  is  a  poison,  which  injures  the  body  and  the  soul.  It  deranges 
healthy  action,  and  disturbs  the  functions  of  life.  It  blinds  the  un- 
derstanding, sears  the  conscience,  pollutes  the  affections,  and  hard- 
ens the  heart.  It  leads  men  into  temptation,  and  gives  to  evil 
peculiar  power  over  their  minds.  It  impairs,  and  often  destroys 
reason.  It  tends  to  bring  those  who  use  it  to  a  premature  grave  ; 
and  to  usher  all  who  understand,  or  have  the  means  of  under- 
standing its  nature  and  effects,  and  yet  continue  to  drink  it,  or  to 
furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others,  into  a  miserable  eternity. 

In  view  of  these  truths  the  following  conclusions  were  drawn, 
viz.  to  drink  ardent  spirit,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others,  is 
a  sin,  in  magnitude  equal  to  all  the  evils,  temporal  and  eternal,  which 
flow  from  it ;  and  the  men,  who  continue  to  do  either  will  at  the 
divine  tribunal,  and  ought  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion  to  be  held 
responsible  for  its  effects.  To  the  pauperism,  vice,  sickness,  in- 
sanity, wretchedness  and  death,  which  are  occasioned,  they  are 
accessory  ;  and  as  such  will  be  treated  when  every  man  shall  re- 
ceive according  to  his  work. 

The  above  truths  were  not  only  proved,  but,  by  a  variety  of 
considerations,  were  illustrated  and  enforced.  Principles  and  facts 
were  adduced,  which,  in  view  of  the  Committee,  are  adapted, 
wherever  known  and  regarded,  to  produce  entire  and  universal 
conviction.  And  the  Committee  would  gratefully  acknowledge 
the  divine  kindness,  in  giving  to  those  Reports  such  general  favor, 
and  in  causing  them  to  produce  such  extensive  and  salutary  effects. 
It  was  mentioned  the  last  year,  that  the  Fourth  Report  had  been 
republished  entire  in  England,  that  ten  thousand  copies  of  it  had 
been  printed  in  this  country ;  and  also  an  edition  in  an  abridged 
form  of  ten  thousand  copies  more.  Since  that  time,  five  thousand 
copies  of  the  entire  Report  have  been  printed  ;  and  of  an  abstract 
of  it  addressed  to  the  head  of  each  family  in  the  United  States, 
one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  copies.  A  second  edition  of 
it  has  also  been  published  in  England. 

1  16* 


2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [228 

Of  the  Fifth  Report,  there  have  been  published,  entire,  fourteen 
thousand  copies ;  and  of  that  part  of  it  on  the  immorality  of  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  forty  thousand  copies,  making  in  all  of  the 
entire  Reports  and  parts  of  them  published  in  this  country,  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  copies.  This  Repeat  has  also  been 
republished  in  England  under  the  supervision  of  the  British  and 
Foreign  Temperance  Society,  and  has  had  an  extensive  circula- 
tion. 

Copies  of  the  Fifth  Report,  as  well  as  the  Fourth,  have  been 
sent  to  most  civilized  countries,  and  to  many  parts  of  the  Pagan 
world.  And  wherever  it  has  gone,  it  has  drawn  forth  from  intelli- 
gent and  philanthropic  men,  strong  testimony  of  approbation,  and 
has  produced  most  beneficial  effects. 

A  distinguished  Civilian  in  one  of  our  seaports,  who  has  been 
active  in  its  circulation,  writes,  "  A  more  weighty  document  was 
never  presented  to  the  public  ;  and  the  best  way  to  promote  the 
cause,  of  Temperance,  is,  to  get  the  Reports  of  the  American 
Temperance  Society  into  circulation."  He  then  mentions,  that  of 
the  numerous  vessels,  engaged  in  an  extensive  trade  with  the  Port 
in  which  he  lives,  three  fourths  are  navigated  without  the  use  of 
spirit,  and  that  three  years  ago  rum  was  deemed  as  essential  in 
navigating  those  vessels,  as  a  compass  or  light  in  the  binnacle. 
Another  gentlemen,  who  is  at  the  head  of  one  of  our  public  institu- 
tions, writes,  "The  Fifth  Report  is  a  noble  production,  and  fully 
sustains  the  high  character  of  the  Fourth.  It  ought  to  find  a 
place  in  every  family  in  the  United  States."  An  eminent  Lawyer, 
remarks,  "  If  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Reports  were  put  into  every 
family,  the  very  best  effects  must  follow.  The  truth,  as  it  is  ex- 
hibited in  these  Reports,  is  mighty  ;  and,  if  it  were  only  carried 
home  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  entire  population  of  the 
United  States,  I  am  sure  it  must  prevail."  Another  says,  "  No 
man  of  principle,  who  will  candidly  examine  the  Fifth  Report,  can 
continue  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  with  a  good  conscience." 
Another  remarks,  "It  exceeds  in  interest,  weight,  and  power, 
either  of  the  preceding  Reports.  If  any  professor  of  religion  can 
read  it,  and  continue  the  traffic  in  spirit,  his  hope,  we  fear,  is  as  a 
spider's  web."  A  venerable  officer  of  a  Christian  Church,  having, 
like  some  other  officers,  deacons,  elders,  and  even  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  long  been  deluded  by  a  very  moderate  use  of  ardent  spirit, 
into  the  dangerous  and  fatal  error  of  believing  that  it  is  not  wicked 
to  drink  it,  withstood  all  attempts  to  induce  him  to  abstain  from  it, 
or  unite  with  the  Temperance  Society.  He  professed  to  be  a 
friend  of  temperance,  as  every  decent  man  of  course  must  do,  or 
lose  his  character,  but  then  a  little  stimulus  was  for  him,  he  con- 
tended, under  his  peculiar  circumstances,  necessary  ;  or  at  least 
was  not  sinful.     He  was  furnished  by  a  friend  with  our  Fifth  Re- 


229]  SIXTH   REPORT. — 1833.  3 

port ;  and  after  reading  it,  he  writes,  "  I  have  read  this  very  inter- 
esting pamphlet  through.  I  need  no  further  importunity.  lam  now 
fully  determined  to  renounce  the  use  of  this  destructive  beverage, 
from  this  day,  to  the  day  of  my  death.  Yes,  I  do  renounce  \t,Jinally, 
totally.  Pray  add  my  name  to  your  society."  And  the  Committee 
would  respectfully  suggest  to  the  friends  of  temperance,  whether 
they  can  in  any  way  do  more  for  the  cause  of  temperance  and 
salvation,  than  by  furnishing  our  Fifth  Report  to  every  praying, 
and  rum  selling  or  rum  drinking  christian,  deacon,  elder,  and 
preacher  in  the  United  States.  Should  it  have  the  effect,  which 
it  had  on  that  man,  which  it  has  had  on  thousands,  and  which  it 
will  be  likely  to  have  upon  every  man,  who,  from  the  heart,  prays 
"  Thv  kingdom  come,  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven," 
it  will  remove  one  of  the  greatest  obstructions  to  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance, and  render  the  efforts  of  those  men  to  do  good  much  more 
successful. 

The  British  Temperance  Magazine  and  Review  says,  "  The 
Fifth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  is  a  most  in- 
teresting document.  We  are  glad  to  inform  our  readers  that  it  is 
now  reprinting  in  London.  A  second  edition  of  the  Fourth  Re- 
port is  also  published.  It  argues  well  for  the  Temperance  cause 
here,  that  these  interesting  productions  are  so  much  in  demand  in 
England." 

An  eminent  writer  in  Europe  says  of  the  Fifth  Report,  "  It  em- 
bodies an  array  of  facts  and  arguments,  and  the  testimony  of  wise 
and  good  men,  on  the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  far 
surpassing  in  amplitude  and  strength,  what  is  contained  in  any  pub- 
lication on  this  subject  in  existence.  It  will  be  circulated  far  and 
wide;  and  will  undoubtedly  be  the  means  of  inducing  hundreds, 
and  perhaps  thousands,  to  abandon  the  immoral  traffic,  from  prin- 
ciple, and  thereby  save  them  from  temporal,  and  eternal  ruin." 
And  the  Committee  cannot  but  rejoice  that  such  publications,  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  have  to  an  unprecedented  extent,  been  multiplied 
and  circulated  through  this  and  other  countries,  and  that  the  de- 
mand for  them  is  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing.  It  shows 
that  the  cause  of  Temperance  is  taking  a  deeper  and  firmer  hold 
on  the  hearts  of  the  people ;  and  that  in  proportion  as  knowledge 
and  virtue  are  extended,  will  be  their  efforts  to  promote  it ;  till 
intemperance,  and  its  evils  shall  entirely  cease.  Many  towns  and 
some  counties,  have  undertaken  to  put  one  of  our  Reports  into 
every  family.     This  might  be  done  throughout  the  United  States. 

As  the  three  first  Reports  were  out  of  print,  and  were  often 
called  for,  the  Fourth  Report  contains  the  history  of  the  Temper- 
ance Reformation  from  its  commencement,  and  also  a  recapitula- 
tion of  the  prominent  facts  contained  in  the  previous  Reports.  That 
Report,  and  also  the  Fifth,  are  constructed,  not  on  the  plan  of  be- 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [230 

ing  merely  annual  or  temporary  Reports,  detailing  only  local 
operations;  but  on  the  plan  of  being  general  and  permanent  docu- 
ments ;  developing  great  principles,  and  embodying  facts  of  perma- 
nent interest,  and  of  high  importance  in  all  ages,  and  to  all  coun- 
tries. It  was  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  fundamental  position, 
which  the  cause  of  Temperance  holds,  and  its  radical  influence  on 
the  salvation  of  the  human  family,  that  this  course  was  taken  ;  and 
for  the  purpose  of  awakening  universal  attention,  and  leading  lo 
universal,  permanent,  and  ever  growing  effort ;  which  is  the  only 
effort  that  is  adapted  to  the  magnitude  of  the  subject,  or  will  secure 
its  infinitely  high,  and  momentous  results.  The  Fifth  Report  is  a 
continuation  of  the  Fourth,  and  is  paged  accordingly,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  bound  together.  Both  are  stereotyped,  can  be  fur- 
nished in  any  quantity,  and  are  adapted  to  universal  circulation. 
The  present  is  a  continuation  of  those  two  Reports,  is  constructed 
and  paged  on  the  same  plan,  and  for  the  same  purpose.  In  no 
way,  it  is  believed,  can  parents,  at  the  same  expense,  do  greatei 
good  to  their  children,  or  the  friends  of  Temperance  more  exten- 
sively and  permanently  promote  the  cause,  than  by  putting  a  copy 
of  these  Reports  into  every  family.  If  read  and  regarded,  they 
would  change  the  habits  of  the  nation;  dry  up  many  of  the  deepest 
fountains  of  human  sorrow,  secure  our  youth  from  one  of  their 
greatest  dangers ;  and  save  immense  multitudes  from  an  untimely 
grave.  The  property,  which  would  be  saved,  would,  in  one  gene- 
ration, amount  to  more  than  the  present  value  of  all  the  real  estate 
in  the  country;  the  means  of  intellectual  and  moral  culture  would 
be  greatly  augmented,  and  would  be  vastly  more  successful ;  and 
a  prospect  be  opened  brighter  than  any  human  eye  ever  saw,  that 
free,  social,  civil  and  religious  institutions  may  be  extended  over 
all  nations  and  perpetuated  to  all  ages. 

The  Committee  have  also  the  past  year  appointed  two  additional 
Agents,  Mr.  Charles  Yale  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  Rev. 
John  Marsh  of  Connecticut.  They  have  both  accepted  their  ap- 
pointment, and  entered  upon  its  duties.  Mr.  Yale  was  appointed 
as  a  temporary  agent  for  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  He  started 
from  New  York  about  the  first  of  February,  to  go  by  land  to  New 
Orleans.  He  is  expected  then  to  visit  St.  Louis,  and  return  by  way 
of  Cincinnati,  to  New  York.  His  object  is,  to  procure  the  forma- 
tion of  a  State  Temperance  Society,  in  each  State,  in  which  there 
now  is  none,  to  open  the  way  and  make  arrangements  for  the 
universal  and  permanent  circulation  of  information,  to  embody  the 
friends  of  Temperance,  and  as  far  as  practicable  induce  each  State 
to  employ  a  permanent  agent,  and  in  the  various  ways  in  his  power 
promote  the  general  cause. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh  is  appointed  as  a  General  Agent;  and 
commenced  lus  labors  on  the  first  of  April,  in  Connecticut.     After 


231]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833.  5 

laboring  for  a  time  in  that  State,  he  will  visit  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and,  in  connection  with  other  agents,  assist  the  Committee, 
and  the  friends  of  the  cause,  in  extending  by  kind  moral  influence, 
the  principles  of  Temperance,  throughout  the  United  States. 

Numerous  Temperance  Publications  of  various  forms  and  sizes, 
edited  with  ability,  have  been  issued  and  circulated  extensively  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  And  it  is  earnestly  hoped  that  tem- 
perance publications  may  be  multiplied,  and  supported ;  till  they 
are  established  in  every  State;  and  read  and  regarded  by  every 
family  and  every  individual  in  the  country.  No  course  could  be 
adopted,  which  would  be  more  auspicious  to  the  nation  ;  and  none 
open  a  prospect  of  greater  blessings  to  mankind.  Many  of  the 
State  Societies,  and  several  of  the  County  Societies  have  also,  dur- 
ing the  last  year,  employed  agents,  and  with  the  most  gratifying 
success.  The  number  of  members  of  Temperance  Societies  have, 
in  many  cases,  been  doubled,  and  in  some  increased  more  than 
four  fold.  Living  agents,  and  the  press,  operating  on  the  whole 
mass  of  minds,  aided  by  visible  united  example,  are  the  divinely 
appointed  instruments,  for  the  illumination  and  renovation  of  the 
world.  And  never  has  there  been  a  specimen  of  more  triumphant 
progress,  or  an  exemplification  of  the  power  of  combined  moral 
effort,  which  as  a  precedent,  in  its  application  to  the  human  family, 
may  be  more  important,  than  that  exhibited  by  the  Temperance 
Reformation.  It  is  even  now  often  quoted  throughout  Christen- 
dom, as  a  standing  demonstration,  that  what  needs  to  be  done  in 
our  world,  and  what  ought  to  be  done,  through  grace,  can  be  done  ; 
and  all  that  is  needful,  is,  wise,  united,  energetic,  persevering  be- 
nevolent action,  in  dependence  on  God,  to  secure,  under  Him, 
glorious  and  everlasting  success.  It  has  awakened  new  confidence 
in  millions  of  hearts,  and  nerved  with  new  vigor  millions  of  hands. 
For  the  extermination  of  deep  and  wide-spreading  evils,  it  has 
drawn  forth  from  millions,  with  a  firmer  purpose  and  more  unfal- 
tering tongue,  the  declaration,  "  I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the 
Lord  God,  I  will  make  mention  of  thy  righteousness,  even  of  thine 
only." 

The  weapons  of  their  warfare  being  not  carnal,  and  operating, 
not  by  force,  or  coercion,  but  by  light  and  love,  on  the  conscience 
and  the  heart,  are  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of 
strong  holds.  Trusting  in  him,  they  mount  up  on  wings  as  eagles, 
they  run  and  are  not  weary,  they  walk  and  are  not  faint.  By 
effort  they  renew  their  strength,  and  they  move  on  with  increasing 
energy  from  conquering  to  conquer.  And  if  faithful,  their  efforts 
will  not  cease,  or  be  diminished,  or  be  unsuccessful,  till  the  last 
vestige  of  open  iniquity  shall  have  vanished  from  the  globe. 

In  September  the  Committee  issued  the  following  Circular  : 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American 
1  * 


6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY".  [232 

Temperance   Society,   holden  in   Boston,  Sept.  21,  1832,  it  was 
unanimously  resolved, 

1 .  That  it  is  highly  desirable  that  meetings  of  Temperance  So- 
cieties and  friends  of  temperance  be  holden  simultaneously  on  some 
day  that  may  be  designated,  in  all  the  cities,  towns  and  villages 
throughout  the  United  States. 

2.  That  Tuesday, the  26th  day  of  February,  1833,  be  designated 
for  that  purpose. 

3.  That  measures  be  immediately  taken  to  accomplish  the 
abovementioned  object. 

The  reasons  which  lead  the  Committee  to  invite  the  co-opera- 
tion of  all  their  fellow  citizens  in  carrying  the  abovementioned  plan 
into  effect,  are  the  following,  viz  : 

1.  It  is  strictly  a  national  object ;  and  one  in  which  persons  of 
all  denominations,  sects  and  parlies  can  cordially  unite,  viz  :  the 
removal  of  intemperance  from  our  country. 

2.  The  means  to  be  employed  are  in  all  respects  unexceptiona- 
ble ;  and  are  adapted  to  meet  the  cordial  approbation  of  all  friends 
of  humanity,  viz  :  light  and  love,  manifested  in  sound  argument  and 
kind  persuasion, -for  the  purpose  of  inducing  all  voluntarily  to  ab- 
stain from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  and  from  furnishing 
it  for  the  use  of  others. 

3.  The  success  which  has  attended  past  efforts  has  already  been 
the  means  of  rich  blessings  to  all  parts  of  our  country,  and  is  spoken 
of  with  admiration  throughout  the  world. 

4.  Philanthropists  of  the  old  world  are  now,  on  this  subject, 
treading  in  our  footsteps,  and  while  they  acknowledge  their  obliga- 
tions for  the  benefits,  are  extensively  copying  our  example. 

5.  Wherever  the  plan  recommended  by  the  American  Tem- 
perance Society,  viz  :  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a 
drink,  and  voluntary  associations  for  the  purpose  of  showing  by 
united  example  its  benefits,  has  been  adopted,  in  Europe,  Asia,  or 
Africa,  as  well  as  in  America,  it  has  been  highly  efficacious,  and 
followed  with  the  most  beneficial  results,  to  the  social,  civil,  and 
religious  interests  of  man. 

6.  A  union  as  to  the  time  of  holding  temperance  meetings,  in  all 
the  cities,  towns,  and  villages  of  our  country,  would  greatly  increase 
the  interest  which  is  felt  on  the  subject,  would  call  forth  the  efforts 
of  the  highest  and  best  talents  in  the  land,  and  would  greatly  in- 
crease and  extend  the  light,  union,  and  efficiency  on  which,  under 
the  divine  blessing,  the  complete  and  universal  success  of  the  object 
depends. 

7.  Facts  seem  to  indicate  that  should  temperance  and  its  attend- 
ant virtues  and  blessings  universally  prevail,  the  cholera,  that  scourge 
of  the  nations,  which  has  spread  sackcloth  round  the  globe  and 
threatens  to  cover  our  land  with  mourning,  would  be  nearly  if  not 


233]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  7 

altogether  unknown  ;  the  deep  fountain  of  human  sorrow  be  dried 
up,  and  ever  growing  light,  purity,  and  joy,  under  the  means  of 
divine  appointment,  with  all  who  obey  the  divine  will,  would  uni- 
versally prevail. 

The  Committee  therefore  earnestly  invite  the  co-operation  of  all 
State,  and  other  Temperance  Societies,  and  friends  of  temperance 
of  every  name,  in  securing  temperance  meetings  in  every  city, 
town,  and  village  in  our  country,  on  the  abovementioned  day  ;  and 
for  this  puipose  they  would  respectfully  request, 

1.  That  in  all  places  in  which  there  are  no  Temperance  Soci- 
eties, immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this  Circular,  there  should  be 
a  Committee  of  Arrangements  appointed  to  give  public  notice,  select 
a  speaker,  or  speakers,  and  take  all  needful  measures  for  such  a 
meeting. 

2.  That  in  all  places  where  there  are  Temperance  Societies, 
the  officers  of  such  societies,  would  do  the  same. 

3.  That  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  all  denominations,  would 
read  this  Circular  from  their  pulpit,  and  use  their  influence  to  effect 
the  design. 

4.  That  all  editors  of  newspapers  and  periodicals  would  give 
publicity  to  this  Circular  through  the  medium  of  their  columns. 

5.  That  a  Temperance  Society  on  that  day  be  formed  in  every 
place  in  which  there  is  none  ;  and  that  efforts  be  made,  previously 
to  that  day,  and  at  that  time,  to  have  the  present  number  of  all 
Temperance  Societies,  if  possible,  more  than  doubled.  For  this 
end,  and  as  a  means  to  accomplish  it,  the  Committee  would  invite 
the  attention  of  all  their  fellow  citizens  to  the  fourth  and  fifth  Re- 
ports of  the  Society,  to  the  National  Circular  designed  for  every 
family  in  the  United  States,  and  to  the  tract  which  is  published  by 
the  Society,  "  On  the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit," 
and  request  that  they  may  have  a  universal  circulation.  The  avails 
of  said  publications,  will  be  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  the  cause 
o(  temperance  throughout  our  country. 

Samuel  Hubbard,  President. 
John  Tappan, 
George  Odiorne,  , 
Heman  Lincoln,    yEx.  Committee. 
Justin  Edwards, 
Enoch  Hale,  Jr. 

This  document  was  extensively  circulated,  and  was  hailed  with 
*j°y  Dy  tne  friends  °f  Temperance  throughout  the  country.  It  was 
also  forwarded  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society, 
and  measures  were  promptly  taken  by  them  to  secure  meetings  at 
the  same  time,  for  the  same  purpose,  throughout  Great  Britain. 
Wherever  the  Circular  went  it  met  a  prompt  and  lively  response 


8  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [23'1 

from  the  hearts  of  the  temperate,  and  multitudes  looked  forward 
to  the  26th  day  of  February,  1833,  as  a  day  which  would  be 
marked  as  an  era  in  the  history  of  the  Temperance  Reformation. 
The  prospect  of  beholding  friends  of  humanity,  without  distinction 
of  name,  party,  sect  or  country,  assembling  at  the  same  time,  for 
the  same  high  purpose  of  uniting  their  energies  for  the  moral  eman- 
cipation of  the  world,  was  indeed  a  noble,  a  sublime  spectacle;  so 
novel,  and  at  the  same  time  so  grand  and  imposing,  as  to  awaken 
in  many  a  bosom  new  anticipations,  and  raise  from  many  a  heart 
more  fervent  aspirations  to  the  Author  of  all  good,  that  he  would 
grant  to  the  enterprise  his  gracious  benediction  ;  and  hasten  the 
time,  when  men  of  mercy  and  of  might,  throughout  the  world, 
shall  simultaneously  assemble,  and  with  united  hearts,  before  the 
throne  of  the  Eternal,  in  his  strength,  unite  their  hands,  and  all 
their  powers  of  body  and  mind,  in  one  grand  and  evergrowing 
effort  for  the  salvation  from  sin  and  death,  of  the  whole  human 
family. 

On  the  5th  day  of  November,  the  Secretaiy  of  War  issued 
from  the  War  Office  the  following  order  : 

"  OFFICIAL. 

HEAD  QUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY. 

Adjutant  General's  Office, 
Washington,  Nov.  5th,  1832. 
The  General-in-chief  has  received  from  the  War  Department 
the  subjoined  Regulation,  which  is  published  for  the  information 
and  government  of  the  Army,  and  all  others  interested  : 

War  Department,  Nov.  2d,  1832. 

1.  Hereafter  no  ardent  spirits  will  be  issued  to  troops  of  the  U 
States,  as  a  component  part  of  the  ration,  nor  shall  any  commuta- 
tion therefor  be  paid  to  them. 

2.  No  ardent  spirits  will  be  introduced  into  any  fort,  camp,  or 
garrison  of  the  United  States,  nor  sold  by  any  sutler  to  the  troops. 
Nor  will  any  permit  be  granted  for  the  purchase  of  ardent  spirits. 

Under  the  authority  vested  in  the  President  by  the  8th  section  of 
the  act  of  congress  of  April  14th,  ISIS,  the  following  changes  will 
be  made  in  the  ration  issued  to  the  Army : 

3.  As  a  substitute  for  the  ardent  spirits  issued  previously  to  the 
adcption  of  the  general  regulation  of  November  30th,  1830,  and 
for  the  commutation  in  money  prescribed  thereby,  eight  pounds  of 
sugar  and  four  pounds  of  coffee  will  be  allowed  to  every  one  hun- 
dred rations.  And  at  those  posts  where  the  troops  may  prefer  it, 
ten  pounds  of  rice  may  be  issued  to  every  one  hundred  rations,  in 
lieu  of  the  eight  quarts  of  beans  allowed  by  the  existing  regulations. 

4.  These   regulations  will  not  extend  to  the  cases  provided  for 


235]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  9 

by  the  act  of  congress  of  March  2d,  1819,  entitled  "An  act  to 
regulate  the  pay  of  the  Army  when  employed  on  fatigue  duty,"  in 
which  no  discretionary  authority  is  vested  in  the  president,  nor 
to  the  necessary  supplies  for  the  Hospital  Department  of  the  army. 

Lewis  Cass. 
R.  Jones,  Adj.  Gen." 

This  change  had  for  some  time  been  anticipated,  and  by  none, 
perhaps,  more  earnestly  desired  than  by  many  of  the  officers  of 
the  army.  And  few  orders  have  ever  issued  from  the  war  de- 
partment more  grateful  to  the  people,  or  which  have  more  generally 
met  their  approbation.  The  author  of  it  will  long  be  held  in 
grateful  remembrance,  and  will  be  noted  in  the  future  page  of  his- 
tory as  a  benefactor  of  his  country.  The  result  is  highly  auspi- 
cious. It  saves  an  immense  amount  of  property,  and  adds  greatly 
to  the  health,  the  regularity,  the  happiness,  and  the  strength  of  the 
army.  An  officer  of  high  rank  and  long  experience,  on  hearing 
that  another  officer,  who  had  been  intemperate,  was  dead,  said, 
"  It  would  be  better  for  the  army  and  for  the  country  if  such  men 
were  all  dead.  They  are  only  a  burden  and  a  disgrace."  Young 
officers,  and  those  who  are  looking  forward  to  promotion,  either 
in  military,  or  civil  life,  would  do  well  to  remember  this.  Such 
sentiments  are  becoming  common,  and  with  regard  to  all  depart- 
ments. One  of  our  most  distinguished  jurists,  and  successful  ad- 
vocates at  the  bar  remarked,  that,  as  witnesses  in  courts  of  justice, 
men  who  drink  ardent  spirit,  do  not  now,  and  that  they  never  will 
again,  have  equal  influence  with  men  who  do  not  drink.  It  is 
considered  an  impeachment  of  their  character  ;  and  lessens  the 
credibility  and  weight  of  their  testimony.  It  is  impossible  to  make 
either  the  court  or  the  jury  repose  the  same  confidence  in  them  as 
in  other  men.  It  is  now  understood,  that  even  moderate  drinking 
weakens  the  intellect,  blunts  the  power  of  discriminating  perception, 
and  if  it  does  not,  as  is  often  the  case,  make  a  man  dishonest,  it 
venders  him  more  liable  to  be  deceived  and  to  make  mistakes. 
It  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  be,  in  any  degree,  under  the  power 
of  this  mocker  without  being  peculiarly  exposed  to  deception. 
"  No  man,  (says  an  eminent  physician,)  who  has  taken  only  a  single 
glass,  has  all  his  faculties  in  as  perfect  a  state,  as  the  man  who 
takes  none.  And  there  is  no  perfectly  temperate  physician,  under 
the  influence  merely  of  a  glass  of  wine,  who  has  so  steady  a  hand, 
or  can,  with  as  much  prospect  of  safety  and  success,  perform  a 
hazardous  and  difficult  surgical  operation,  as  the  man  who  uses  no 
intoxicating  drinks."  And  the  community  are  becoming  every  day 
more  and  more  suspicious  of  men  who  drinkr  though  only  in  mod- 
erate quantities ;  and  whatever  they  may  be  in  other  respects,  are 
reposing  less  and  less  confidence  in  them.  And  every  new  devel- 
17 


10  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [23G 

opemeni  of  facts  shows  that  they  have  most  cogent  reasons  for 
this.  The  time  has  gone  by  and  will  never  return,  when  discern- 
ing men  will,  other  things  being  equal,  repose  as  much  confidence 
in  men  who  drink  ardent  spirit,  as  in  men  who  do  not.  And  the 
more  responsible  the  station,  the  greater  reluctance  they  will  feel, 
at  placing  in  it  even  the  most  moderate  drinker.  Such  men  are 
dallying  with  the  enemy ;  admitting  him  to  their  bosoms  and  thus 
jeopardizing  all  the  great  interests  with  which  they  are  intrusted. 
The  records  of  stages,  steam-boats  and  rail  cars,  as  well  as 
courts  of  Justice  and  Halls  of  Legislation,  and  the  numerous  de- 
falcations of  incumbents  of  public  offices,  all  bear  testimony  to  the 
truth  of  these  remarks. 

In  a  communication  made  to  our  Secretary  by  one  of  the  largest 
Mail  Contractors  in  the  United  States,  he  says,  "  We  seldom  have 
an  accident  worthy  of  notice,  that  we  cannot  trace  to  a  glass  of 
spirits,  taken  perhaps  to  oblige  a  friend  or  a  passenger  who  has 
urged  the  driver  '  to  take  a  little  ; '  thus  putting  his  own  life  and 
the  lives  of  his  companions  in  danger ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  loss 
of  character  and  property  to  us." 

"We  were  going,"  said  a  gentleman,  "from  Baltimore  to  Phil- 
adelphia, in  the  stage.  The  day  was  cold,  and  the  traveling  ex- 
ceedingly rough.  But  we  had  a  careful  driver  and  fine  horses, 
and  we  got  on  very  well,  till  the  driver  stopped  at  a  tavern  and 
took  something  to  drink.  Almost  immediately  after  we  started, 
the  horses  became  fractious."  What  was  the  matter  ?  The  driver 
did  not  hold  the  reins  as  he  held  them  before.  The  poison  which 
for  a  pittance  the  tavern  keeper  gave  him,  and  he  drank,  began  to 
affect  his  brain,  and  his  arms;  it  ran  along  in  its  influence  through 
the  reins  to  the  horses  ;  and  the  generous  animals  which  had  la- 
bored so  hard  and  well  for  the  public  good,  reined  and  goaded 
by  a  poisoned  driver,  became  vexed  even  to  madness.  Descend- 
ing a  hill  the  stage  was  overturned ;  and  the  passengers,  with 
broken  bones  and  in  imminent  danger  of  death,  experienced  what 
huadreds  of  others  have,  that  the  vexation  and  the  mischief  of  hav- 
ing poisoned  drivers,  and  poisoning  tavern  keepers  are  not  confined 
to  horses.  They  affect  most  seriously  the  passengers,  in  all  pub- 
lic conveyances ;  and  not  only  an  immense  amount  of  property, 
but  hundreds  of  lives  are  sacrificed  to  an  abominable  custom.  And 
it  is  hoped  that  the  time  is  not  distant  when  no  poisoned  man  will 
be  thought  to  be  fit  to  take  the  direction  of  a  stage,  a  rail  car,  or 
a  steam  boat ;  and  when  it  will  be  thought  to  be  much  less  proper 
to  entrust  such  an  one  with  the  momentous  and  complicated  con- 
cerns of  the  State  and  the  Nation. 

A  distinguished  officer  of  the  United  States  Government  in- 
formed our  Secretary,  that  the  celebrated  Author  of  the  Declara- 
tion of  American  Independence  after  long,  and  painful  experience 


237]  SIXTH    REPORT.— 1833.  11 

in  the  discharge  of  his  arduous  duties,  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  the 
nation,  said  with  great  emphasis,  "  The  habit  of  using  ardent  spirit, 
by  men  in  public  office,  has  occasioned  more  injury  to  the  public 
service,  and  more  trouble  to  me,  than  any  other  circumstance 
which  has  occurred  in  the  internal  concerns  of  the  country,  during 
my  administration.  And  were  I  to  commence  my  administration 
again,  with  the  knowledge  which  from  experience  1  have  acquired, 
the  first  question  which  I  would  ask,  with  regard  to  every  candi- 
date for  public  office,  should  be,  Is  he  addicted  to  the  use  of  ar- 
dent spirit  ?■  " 

This  question  now,  by  those  in  power  who  regard  the  public 
good,  often  is  asked,  and  it  will  be  asked  with  greater  frequency 
in  time  to  come.  Men  will  not  trust  their  money,  their  children 
and  their  lives  with  poisoned  men ;  or  make  them  the  guardians, 
in  any  department,  of  their  rights.  Experience  and  observation 
will  affect  all  sober  men,  as  they  did  that  keen  observer  of  men  and 
things,  who  would  make  it  the  first  question,  "  Is  he  addicted  to  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit  ?  "  If  he  is,  and  men  trust  him  with  great 
public  interests,  and  meet  with  trouble,  they  will  meet  what  might, 
and  ought  to  have  been  their  expected  reward.  Can  a  man  take 
fire  in  his  bosom  and  his  clothes  not  be  burnt  ?  or  can  he  put  it 
into  the  bosoms  of  others,  and  not  burn  them,  and  endanger  the 
interests  entrusted  to  them  ?  Many  have  been  made  drunkards,  by 
men  in  public  office,  and  many  more  have  had  intemperate  appe- 
tites formed  or  strengthened,  and  thus  have  been  ruined,  by  the 
government  itself. 

It  is  no  less  a  matter  of  congratulation,  that  the  government  has 
at  last  ceased  longer  to  be  accessory  to  such  evils  in  the  army, 
than  it  is  matter  of  grief  and  shame  that  they  should  have  con- 
tinued so  long.  Millions  of  property  have  been  lost,  and  thousands 
of  brave  men  been  helped  by  the  country  which  they  served,  and 
not  unfrequently  put  by  its  authority,  into  a  dishonourable  grave. 

The  means  of  forming  an  unnatural  and  vicious  appetite  have 
been  furnished  by  the  government ;  an  appetite  stronger  than  death, 
and  more  relentless  than  the  grave  ;  and  then,  for  crimes  to  which 
it  led,  the  miserable  victim,  by  that  very  government,  has  been  put 
to  death.  With  one  hand  they  have  furnished  him  the  poison  ; 
and  with  the  other  taken  away  his  life,  for  acting  under  its  influence. 

A  soldier  in  the  last  war,  once  a  sober  and  respectable  man, 
by  daily  taking  a  little,  acquired  an  appetite  for  it.  That  appetite 
he  gratified,  and  under  its  influence  deserted.  He  was  taken  and 
condemned  to  be  shot.  Just  before  his  execution  he  said  to  the 
officer  who  visited  him,  "  I  owe  my  death  to  ardent  spirit.  It  has 
ruined  me;  I  never  violated  the  orders,  or  broke  the  laws,  except 
when  I  had  been  drinking.  I  am  now  to  die,  and  this  it  is  which 
has  killed  me.     And  now,  if  I  could  only  get  a  draught  of  it,  1 


12  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [238 

should  care  nothing  about  death,"  And,  said  the  officer,  in  relating 
the  ease  to  our  Secretary,  "  He  actually  pleaded  for  whiskey  while 
they  were  taking  off  his  irons,  with  as  much  earnestness  as  a  sinner 
ever  pleads  for  salvation."  He  was  furnished  with  a  pint,  and, 
under  its  influence,  he  was  plunged  into  eternity  ;  with  the  all  con- 
suming appetite  strong  in  death.  And  four  fifths  of  the  capital 
crimes,  and  of  the  executions  in  the  army,  in  the  navy  and  in  the 
community  have  been  occasioned  by  the  use  of  spirit.  We  fur- 
nish the  cause,  excite  to  crime,  and  then  put  the  criminal  to  death. 
But  a  change  with  regard  to  the  army  has  at  last  been  effected  ; 
and  one  which  if  adopted  and  persevered  in  by  the  whole  com- 
munity will  tend  to  render  drunkenness  and  crime  in  the  army  and 
out  of  it,  as  rare,  as  it  is  guilty,  mean,  and  disgraceful.  Many  are 
hoping  and  with  high  expectations,  that  a  similar  change  will  shortly 
take  place  in  the  Navy.  Many  of  the  officers  and  of  the  seamen 
most  earnestly  desire  it.  Most  of  the  men  in  two  squadrons  have 
already  voluntarily  renounced  entirely  the  use  of  spirit ;  and  the 
consequent  improvement,  in  their  habits,  health,  and  happiness,  has 
become  a  topic  of  common  remark  among  the  surgeons  and  other 
officers. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  states,  that  the  Schooner  Experi- 
ment had  her  men  selected  with  a  view  to  a  full  experiment  on 
this  interesting  subject.  And  rightly,  in  view  of  the  Committee,  is 
she  named  Experiment  ;  for  few  if  any  vessels  have  ever  made 
an  experiment  on  a  subject  of  greater  importance  to  mankind. 
The  Secretary  also  adds,  "that  by  perseverance  in  holding  out  in- 
ducements to  the  voluntary  abandonment  of  the  use  of  daily  poi- 
son, he  trusts  not  only  that  the  waste  of  human  life,  and  the  fre- 
quency and  severity  of  punishment  will  be  diminished,  but  that  a 
great  moral  revolution  will  be  permanently  effected  among  a  class 
of  men,  who  have  hitherto  been  too  often  considered  irre- 
claimable." 

This  testimony  to  ardent  spirit  as  a.  poison,  and  to  the  fatal  evils 
occasioned  by  the  use  of  it,  the  Committee  view  as  important;  and 
they  would  respectfully  suggest  whether,  in  the  present  state  of  in- 
formation on  this  subject,  it  is  not  morally  wrong,  for  legislators 
to  wait,  till  seamen  voluntarily  refuse  to  accept  the  daily  poison, 
before  they  cease  to  furnish  it  ?  especially  as  it  is  known,  from  the 
testimony  of  surgeons  and  officers,  that  their  furnishing  it  is  the 
cause  of  that  waste  of  human  life,  and  that  frequency  and  severity 
of  punishment  which  the  Secretary  and  thousands  of  others  so 
deeply  deplore,  and  which  is  such  a  foul  disgrace  to  the  American 
Navy  ?  and  they  would  also  suggest  whether  it  is  not  the  duty  of 
£he  government,  without  delay  to  cease  to  furnish  it  ?  Many  of 
ibe  officers  have  expressed,  in  strong  terms,  their  abhorrence  of 
tke  practice  ',  and  to  it  have  attributed  by  far  the  greatest  portion 


239]  SIXTH    REPORT.— I S33.  IS 

of  their  troubles  with  the  men.  And  after  it  is  known  that,  with- 
out any  benefit,  it  causes  more  than  one  fifth  of  the  deaths,  and  more 
than  four  fifths  of  the  crimes  among  men  who  use  it  on  the  land  ; 
and  that  it  is  no  less  hurtful  in  proportion  to  its  use  on  the  ocean, 
must  it  not  be  considered  as  a  high  immorality  and  as  vicious  le- 
gislation to  continue  to  furnish  it  ?  and  will  the  people  of  this  free 
country  continue  to  consent  to  be  thus  taxed,  for  the  sake  of  fur- 
nishing seamen,  as  a  means,  not  of  living,  but  of  dying,  with  daily 
poison  ct  to  increase  their  diseases,  augment  their  dangers,  demoral- 
ize their  characters,  shorten  their  lives,  and  ruin  their  souls?  Will 
they  consent  to  continue  to  be  taxed  for  the  purpose  of  multiplying 
more  than  fourfold  the  difficulties  of  Naval  officers ;  degrading  the 
Naval  service,  and  weakening  the  arm  of  National  defence  ? 
Said  an  officer  of  high  rank,  who  for  his  country  had  long  and 
often  braved  the  dangers  of  the  deep,  and  faced  the  mouth  of 
cannon,  "  If  Congress  will  only  cease  to  furnish  ardent  spirit  for 
the  Navy,  we  shall  have  comparatively  no  trouble  with  the  men, 
I  have  made  the  experiment,  and  I  know,  that  when  men  cease  to 
use  ardent  spirit,  they  cease  to  violate  their  orders ;  and  are  al- 
most uniformly  cheerful,  healthy,  respectful  and  obedient."  And 
it  is  indeed  humiliating  and  degrading,  that  the  facts  which  have 
been  developed  have  not  before  now  produced  entire  conviction , 
and  caused  the  practice  of  furnishing  any  class  of  citizens  with  ar- 
dent spirit  to  be  universally,  and  forever  abolished.  Nothing  but 
the  blinding  and  palsying  effect  on  the  public  mind  of  the  prac- 
tice itself  can  account  for  this  gross  and  long  continued  outrage 
upon  the  character  and  comfort,  the  health  and  usefulness,  the 
lives  and  souls  of  men.  Still  greater  if  possible  is  the  violence 
which  is  done  to  every  correct  principle,  and  the  gloom  which  is 
cast  over  every  bright  prospect,  when  this  poison  is  furnished,  as  it 
sometimes  has  been,  by  candidates  for  public  office,  as  a  bribe  to 
electors.  In  this  free  country,  raised  by  mercy  high  for  all  nations 
to  look  at,  and  making  for  the  world  the  momentous  experiment, 
whether  free  institutions  can  be  permanent  and  men  to  future 
ages  are  to  be  governed  by  law  or  the  sword  ;  in  this  mighty, 
this  stupendous  conflict,  where  intelligence,  and  virtue,  and  morality, 
and  religion,  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  are  all,  and  in  all, — the  pre- 
tended patriot  who  sighed,  "  O  that  I  were  made  judge  in  the 
land,"  has  taken  this  poison  and  offered  it  to  freemen  to  buy  for 
him  their  votes.  And  when  charged  with  being  so  poisoned  him- 
self as  to  be  unfit  for  the  public  service,  he  has  had  the  effrontery  to 
acknowledge  in  words  and  in  deeds,  that  he  loved  it,  and  to  declare 
before  the  world  that  if  he  could  only  have  the  votes  of  all  in  his 
district,  who  were  in  this  respect  like  himself,  he  would  not  ask 
for  more.  And  so  enslaved  have  they  sometimes  been,  that  they 
have  put  him  into  office,  and  continued  him  in  it,  till,  not  his  con- 
>  17* 


14  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [240 

stituents,  but  drunkenness  cast  him  out.  The  very  beasts,  on 
which  some  of  them  rode  to  elections,  on  their  return,  lightened  of 
their  burden,  which  could  not  ride,  and  much  less  could  walk, 
stopped  to  gaze  at  them  in  the  gutter. 

Men,  born  of  sires  whose  blood  flowed  freely  to  purchase  the 
rich  inheritance  for  their  children,  were  bribed  to  be  slaves,  by  a 
price  which  it  would  disgrace  a  slave  to  accept,  and  bound,  not  in 
fetters  of  brass  but  of  mud,  which  they  had  not  strength  enough  to 
break,  and  were  doomed,  while  life  remained,  to  wallow  in  the  mire, 
an  astonishment  and  a  contempt  to  the  most  beastly  spectator. 
The  very  dog  was  ashamed  of  his  company,  while  his  meanest 
feelings,  as  he,  whom  had  he  remained  a  man,  he  would  gladlv 
have  continued  faithfully  to  serve,  gasped  in  death,  assumed  a 
moral  grandeur,  compared  with  the  best  of  those  which  led  the 
destroyer  of  his  master,  by  poisoning  electors,  to  bribe  himself  into 
office. 

Had  the  Genius  of  Liberty  not  herself  been  put  to  sleep  by  the 
lethean  exhalations  of  that  dark  and  putrid  lake,  her  sword  had 
leaped  from  its  scabbard  to  avenge  the  first  invasion  like  this ;  and 
make  an  example,  which  as  far,  and  as  long  as  known,  would  for- 
ever, among  freemen,  prevent  its  repetition.  But  she  was  asleep. 
Her  sleep  however  was  not  the  sleep  of  death.  The  purifying 
breezes  have  gone  over  her,  and  she  begins  already  to  stir ;  and 
in  some  cases  she  has  opened  her  eyes. 

"  Nothing  was  more  common  a  few  years  ago,"  says  a  distin- 
guished Civilian,  "  in  our  part  of  the  country,  than  for  candidates 
for  public  office  to  furnish  electors  with  spirit.  They  did  it  to  ob- 
tain their  votes  ;  and  elections  were  scenes  of  dissipation,  outrage 
and  riot.  But  no  such  thing  is  seen  now.  So  great  has  been  the 
change  since  the  formation  of  Temperance  Societies,  that  there  is 
not  a  man  in  the  country,  who,  should  he  take  that  course,  could 
be  elected  to  any  office."  Let  Temperance  Societies  become 
universal,  and  attempts  to  poison  electors  will  no  longer  bribe  their 
authors  into  office.  The  cry  of  "  Sectarianism,"  or  "  Church  and 
State,"  will  not  hide  from  the  eye  of  freemen  the  cloven  foot,  or 
shield  him  who  wears  it  from  their  indignant  execration. 

Not  a  few  associations  have  already  been  formed,  whose  mem- 
bers solemnly  pledge  themselves  not  to  vote  for  any  man  to  any 
office,  who  at  elections  offers  ardent  spirit.  The  right  of  suffrage, 
in  their  view,  is  too  sacred,  and  liberty  too  precious  to  be  bartered 
away  for  rum,  or  whiskey.  The  false-hearted,  traitorous  pretend- 
ers to  patriotism,  who  think  thus  to  purchase  its  honours  and 
emoluments,  are  in  their  estimation  too  base  to  be  for  a  moment 
tolerated  by  freemen.  They  view  it  as  greater  guilt  and  mean- 
ness to  buy  votes  with  spirit,  than  with  money ;  and  fraught  with 
greater  dangers  to  the  Republic.     From  supporting  the  man  who 


241  J  SIXTH    REPORT. — )  8)3.  15 

does  it,  to  whatever  party  he  may  belong,  they  are  resolved  to  ab- 
stain. Tolal  abstinence  is  all  that  he  will  ever  receive  from  them. 
Let  others  treat  him  in  the  same  manner,  let  this  become  univer- 
sal, and  the  change  with  regard  to  political  corruption  will  be  as 
strongly  marked,  as  the  change  with  regard  to  intemperance  by 
abstinence  from  ardent  spirit.  Let  no  man  be  elected  to  public 
office  whose  qualifications  and  moral  influence  will  not  be  a  public 
blessing,  and  the  dark  portentous  clouds  which  have  been  hovering 
around  our  horizon,  and  casting  a  hroader  and  deeper  shade  over 
our  national  prospects,  will  be  dispelled  by  that  sun  whose  rising 
glories  will  grow  brighter  and  brighter  to  the  perfect  day. ' 

The  quaking  apprehensions  of  the  venerable  patriot  who  poured 
out  his  youthful  blood  to  establish  our  freedom,  that  he  should  out- 
live its  continuance,  would  then  be  hushed  ;  and  every  christian 
bosom  swell  with  high  hope  of  the  speedy  and  universal  extension 
and  unchanging  perpetuity  of  that  heaven-born  freedom  which 
makes  all  who  partake  of  it  to  be  "  free  indeed."  Nor  is  the  at- 
tention of  our  countrymen  confined  to  the  connection  between 
ardent  spirit,  and  the  political  or  temporal  welfare  of  men.  They 
are  tracing  and  exhibiting  its  more  momentous  connection  with 
their  spiritual  and  their  eternal  concerns. 

The  General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
composed  of  that  denomination  throughout  the  United  States,  at 
their  last  meeting,  in  addressing  their  churches,  say,  "  God,  who  is 
the  Author  of  nature  no  less  than  revelation,  has  abundantly  pro- 
vided for  the  essential  happiness  and  relative  usefulness  of  man- 
kind ;  but  the  experience  of  all  ages  and  nations  has  given  the  most 
indubitable  proof  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  is  totally  inconsistent 
with  either ;  and,  thus  opposed  to  the  benevolent  intention  of 
Heaven  and  provisions  of  nature,  must  be  considered  as  a  trans- 
gression of  the  will  of  God.  The  mischievous  principle  of  ine- 
briety, of  which  we  now  speak,  cannot  be  made  to  nourish  and 
invigorate  the  body.  It  is,  by  the  appointment  of  Heaven  and  the 
constitution  of  our  common  nature  rendered  incapable  of  producing 
such  a  result.  Its  conversion  into  chyle,  after  being  received  into 
the  stomach,  and  its  subsequent  appropriation  by  means  of  the 
blood-vessels,  for  the  purpose  of  renewing  and  invigorating  the 
body,  are  known  to  be  impossible."  And  after  saying  that  few 
are  aware  of  the  insidious  nature  and  great  extent  of  the  evil,  they 
add,  "  A  large  portion  we  fear  of  the  most  important  and  responsible 
business  of  the  nation  is  often  transacted  under  the  influence  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree  of  alcoholic  excitement.  And  can  those 
be  innocent  who  contribute  to  secure  such  a  result,  whether  by  the 
pestilential  example  of  temperate  drinking,  as  it  is  called,  or  the 
still  more  criminal  means  of  furnishing  the  poisonous  preparation 
by  manufacture  and  traffic  for  the  degradation  and  ruin  of  others  ? 


J  6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [242 

The  man  who  drinks  intemperately  ruins  himself,  and  is  the  cause 
of  much  discomfort  and  inquietude,  and  perhaps  actual  misery  in 
the  social  circle  in  which  he  moves  ;  but  manufacturers,  and  those 
who  are  engaged  in  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  and  other  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  do  the  work  of  death  by  wholesale  ;  they  are  devoted 
by  misguided  enterprise  to  the  ruin  of  human  kind  ;  and  become 
directly  accessory,  though  not  intended  by  them,  to  the  present 
shame  and  final  destruction  of  hundreds  and  thousands.  And  we 
gravely  ask,  with  no  common  solicitude,  can  God,  who  is  just  as 
well  as  good,  hold  that  church  innocent  which  is  found  cherishing 
in  her  bosom  so  awful  and  universal  an  evil?  The  father  and 
founder  of  methodism,*  says,  "  It  is  amazing  that  the  preparation 
and  selling  of  this  poison  should  be  permitted,  I  will  not  say  in  any 
christian  country,  but  in  any  civilized  State."  He  denounces  the 
gain  of  the  trafficker,  as  "  the  price  of  blood  ;"  and  says,  "  Let  not 
any  lover  of  virtue  and  truth  say  one  word  in  favour  of  this  mon- 
ster. Let  no  lover  of  mankind  open  his  mouth  to  extenuate  the 
guilt  of  it.  Oppose  it  as  you  would  oppose  the  devil,  whose  off- 
spring and  likeness  it  is.  None  can  gain  in  this  way  by  swallow- 
ing up  his  neighbor's  substance,  without  gaining  the  damnation  of 
hell." 

And  it  has  been  publicly  announced  by  leading  men  in  that  Con- 
nection, as  their  settled  conviction,  that  he  who  lives  to  see  the 
year  1836,  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  next  General  Conference, 
will  witness  the  entire  Methodist  Connection  throughout  the  United 
States,  free  from  makers  and  venders  of  spirituous  liquors.  May 
their  anticipations  be  realized  and  their  zeal  and  success  in  this 
work  quicken  and  animate  others,  till  every  Christian  Church  of 
every  denomination,  shall  be  free  from  this  disgrace.  And  the 
Church  that  shall  be  last  to  put  away  this  abomination  may  expect 
to  be  the  last  on  which  shall  descend  the  dew,  the  rain,  and  the 
sunshine  of  Millennial  grace. 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States  say,  "  It  is  now  a  well  establisned  fact,  that  the  common  use 
of  strong  drink,  however  moderate,  lias  been  a  fatal,  soul-destroying 
barrier  against  the  influence  of  the  gospel.  Consequently,  where- 
ever  total  abstinence  is  practised,  a  powerful  instrument  of  resisting 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  removed  ;  and  a  new  avenue  of  access  to  the 
hearts  of  men  opened  to  the  power  of  truth.  Thus  in  numerous 
instances,  and  in  various  places,  during  the  past  year  the  Tempe- 
rance Reformation  has  been  a  harbinger  preparing  the  way  of  the 
Lord  ;  and  the  banishment  of  that  liquid  poison,  which  kills  both 
soul  and  body,  has  made  way  for  the  immediate  entrance  of  the 
spirit  and  the  word,  the  glorious  train  of  the   Redeemer.     But,  a 

*  John  Wesley. 


243J  SIXTH    REPORT. 1831.  17 

great  work  is  still  to  be  effected  in  the  church.  The  sons  of  Levi 
must  be  purified.  The  accursed  thing  must  be  removed  from  the 
camp  of  the  Lord.  While  professing  Christians  continue  to  ex- 
hibit the  baleful  example  of  tasting  the  drunkard's  poison ;  or, 
by  a  sacrilegious  traffic  to  make  it  their  employment  to  degrade 
and  destroy  their  fellow  men,  those  who  love  the  Lord  must 
not  keep  silence,  but  must  lift  up  their  warning  voice,  and  use 
all  lawful  efforts  to  remove  this  withering  reproach  from  the  house 
of  God." 

Among  the  lawful  efforts  which  the  assembly  declare  that  those, 
who  love  the  Lord  are  bound  to  make,  many  ministers  and  elders 
have  had  no  doubt,  is  the  kind,  open,  decided  expression  to  the 
churches  and  to  the  world  of  their  conviction  of  the  immorality 
of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  its  utter  inconsistency  with  the 
spirit  and  requirements  of  the  Christian  religion. 

The  Presbytery  of  New  York,  therefore,  at  their  meetllig  in  Octo- 
ber, declared,  "  that  in  their  opinion,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men,  and 
especially  of  those  who  profess  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
entirely  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  and  from 
traffic  in  it  as  such,"  and  ordered  that  this  opinion  be  communica- 
ted to  their  churches. 

The  Synod  of  Albany,  declared,  "that  in  their  judgment,  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be 
viewed  as  siich  throughout,  t^  world, ;  "  .  and  remind  the  churches 
under  theffij  care  of  the  'sentiments  of  the  General  Assembly,  on 
this  subject,  which  we  have  quoted. 

The' Presbytery  of  Delaware  expressed  to  their  churches  their 
heart-rending  regret  that  any  of  the  professed  friends  of  the  holy 
and  benevolent  Saviour,  should  exhibit  the  shocking  spectacle  of 
being  engaged  in  the  unholy  and  inhuman  traffic  of  retailing  that 
which  has  filled  the  land  with  widows  and  orphans,  with  strife  and 
contention,  crime  and  death  ;  and  through  the  influence  of  which, 
multitudes  have  been  doomed  to  eternal  darkness  and  woe. 

The  General  Association  of  New  Hampshire,  declared,  "  that 
they  believe  the  manufacture,  sale,  and  use  of  that  which  kills  the 
body  and  destroys  the  soul,  and  which  if  continued  as  in  time  past, 
will,  in  less  than  fifty  years,  send  a  million  of  our  fellow  men  to 
the  drunkard's  grave,  and  to  the  drunkard's  doom,  is  utterly  incon- 
sistent with  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  and  that  no  man,  with  his  un- 
derstanding enlightened  on  this  subject,  can  continue  either,  and 
yet  give  evidence  of  being  born  of  God." 

They  also  declare,  "  that  they  regard  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all 
churches  to  refuse  admission  to  all  such  persons  as  shall  continue 
to  make,  sell,  or  use  ardent  spirit  as  an  article  of  drink  or  luxury." 
They  then  make  of  all  such  persons  the  following  momentous  in- 
quiries;  "Is  it  not  your  duty  to  aid   in  the  suppression  of  vice? 


18  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [244 

Can  you  continue  a  practice  which  inevitably  leads  to  sin,  and  be 
blameless?  Can  you  feel  lor  the  salvation  of  men,  and  yet  en- 
courage a  habit  that  will  certainly,  in  many  cases,  lead  to  the  ruin 
of  the  soul?  Can  you  love  the  Saviour,  and  yet  be  unwilling  to 
do  so  little  as  to  abstain  from  spirituous  liquors  to  promote  his 
glory?  In  the  day  of  judgment,  when  it  shall  appear  that  many, 
encouraged  by  your  example  to  drink,  became  drunkards  and  are 
lost,  can  you  expect  to  enter  the  kingdom?  Will  not  the  blood  of 
souls  be  found  in  your  skirts?  If  you  are  not  guilty  of  the  sin  of 
intemperance,  ought  you  not  to  sorrow  that  others  are;  and  will 
you  not  abstain  from  ardent  spirit  to  prevent  it?  If  you  are  not 
willing  to  make  this  sacrifice  for  Christ,  can  you  have  any  of  that 
love  which  led  him  to  sacrifice  himself  for  you?  Oh  reflect,  and 
over  every  glass  you  drink,  think  of  the  mi  lions  that  the  liquid 
you  drink  has  sent,  and  will  send  to  hell.  Oh  think  of  the  judg- 
ment, and  prepare  to  meet  us  there." 

The  General  Associations  of  Connecticut,  Massachusetts,  and 
Maine,  say,  u  that  in  their  judgment  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  a* 
a  drink,  is  an  immorality,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  viewed  and  treated 
as  such  throughout  the  world;  that  this  immorality  is  utterly  in- 
consistent with  a  profession  of  the  Christian  religion;  and  that 
those  who  have  the  means  of  understanding  its  nature  and  effects, 
and  yet  continue  to  be  engaged  in  it,  ought  not  to  be  admitted  as 
members  of  Christian  churches;  and  that  those  members  of 
Christian  churches  who  continue  to  be  engaged  in  the  traffic  are 
violating  the  principles  and  requirements  of  the  Christian  religion  " 
Similar  views  have  been  expressed  by  multitudes  of  others,  both 
in  this  and  other  countries,  and  they  are  becoming  the  common 
views  of  enlightened  and  conscientious  men  throughout  the  world. 

The  American  Quarterly  Temperance  Magazine  says,  "  We 
consider  moderate  drinkers  as  the  main,  if  not  the  only  cause  of 
the  continued  use  of  distilled  liquors;  but  for  them,  the  manufac- 
turer and  vender  would  soon  disannul  their  covenant  with  hell,  and 
abandon  their  traffic  in  death.  What  has  already  been  said  of  oi|> 
regular  temperate  drinker,  is  applicable  to  all.  Their  moral  sense 
is  debased;  they  are  enslaved  to  appetite;  they  are  in  league 
against  truth,  reason,  and  revelation,  with  the  enemy  of  their  race. 
He  once  said,  '  Eat,  and  ye  shall  not  surely  die.'  He  now  says, 
'  Drink,  and  ye  shall  not  surely  die. '  They  quaff  the  bowl  and  join 
in  the  response.  This  device  is  to  be  assailed  and  confuted  aiain 
and  again,  until  public  sentiment,  which  has  been  deeply  vitiated 
and  perverted,  shall  be  corrected  and  restored  to  the  due  perform- 
ance of  its  office.  Then  shall  the  slaves  of  the  enemy  bear  their 
master's  brand  on  their  foreheads;  and  it  shall  no  longer  remain  a 
problem  for  critical  solution,  whether  the  fair  honorable  merchant, 
who  only  sells  the  liquor  to  the  miserable  drunkard  whom  his 


5*45]  SIXTH    REPORT. — Ibito.  19 

regular  business  has  enticed  to  ruin,  till  he  snatches  the  last  crumb 
of  bread  from  his  starving  children,  be  more  or  less  guilty  than  the 
legal  victim  of  his  cupidity  ;  nor  whether  the  distiller  be  more  or 
less  culpable  than  the  merchant.  Public  sentiment,  once  tolerably 
regulated  and  purified  from  the  defilement  derived  from  the  same 
all-corrupting  source,  would  soon  solve  all  such  difficult  questions. 
The  reeling,  profane,  abandoned  sot  derives  his  arguments  and  his 
justification  for  debasing  himself  and  preying  upon  society,  from 
the  same  fund  with  his  more  decently  appearing  companions  anil 
accomplices,  the  manufacturer  and  vender,  and  the  whole  com- 
pany of  temperate  drinkers.  If  a  farmer,  whose  starving  animals,, 
no  less  than  his  suffering  family,  designate,  as  with  a  sunbeam,  to 
what  corps  he  belongs  ;  you  shall  hear  him  decide  authoritatively 
against  the  reformation  ;  lest  the  coarse  grains  should  remain  a 
useless  drug  on  the  hands  of  the  grower,  and  thereby  injure  the 
agricultural  interest.  The  importer,  the  manufacturer  and  vender 
of  all  grades  from  the  wholesale  warehouse,  or  splendid  mansion, 
down  to  the  occupant  of  the  threepenny-glass  hovel,  all  sympa- 
thise with  him,  and  join  in  the  argument.  The  cause  of  religion  i« 
scandalized  by  its  professors  ;  the  sateless,  never  dying  appetite 
must  have  an  apology,  and  one  is  soon  found.  With  professions 
of  good  will  to  man,  and  obedience  to  the  requirements  of  the  gos- 
pel on  their  lips,  with  the  victims  of  their  cupidity  before  their 
eyes,  in  defiance  of  the  plainest  principles  of  the  religion  they  pro- 
fess, and  in  contempt  of  the  authority  of  its  Author,  they  too,  hold 
the  polluting  cup  to  their  neighbor's  lips;  and  for  what?  to  sus- 
tain and  countenance  themselves  in  the  same  indulgence ;  or  per- 
haps for  the  more  vile,  debasing  and  guilty  object,  of  making  gain 
by  the  unhallowed  traffic.  We  do  not  read  literally  that  the  sen- 
tence, '  Depart  into  everlasting  punishment,'  was  predicated  on 
the  fact  that  the  delinquents  had  been  the  main  instruments,  by 
their  example  or  fraudulent  practices,  whether  legalized  or  not,  of 
filling  the  abodes  of  misery  with  the  sick,  the  naked,  the  wounded, 
the  friendless,  and  the  hungry,  as  now  is  the  fact  with  every  one 
who  bears  an  agency  in  procuring,  diffusing,  or,  by  his  example  of 
using  inebriating  liquors;  no,  theirs  was  the  negative  guilt  of  not, 
according  to  their  several  ability  and  opportunity,  administering  th 
the  relief  and  comfort  of  their  fellow  creatures."  The  application 
to  the  case  in  hand  is  too  plain  to  be  mistaken.  If  to  him  who 
sees  his  fellow  creatures  hungry,  or  naked,  or  sick  or  in  prison, 
and  does  not,  if  in  his  power,  minister  to  their  relief,  the  infinitely 
merciful  Saviour  says,  "  Depart,  ye  cursed  into  everlasting  fire ; 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels,"  what  will  he  not  say  to 
those  who  continue  knowingly  and  perseveringly  to  make  it  their 
business  to  bring  such  evils  upon  them  ?  Can  they  expect  to  es- 
cape the  withering  indignation  of  Him,  whose  eyes  are  as  a  flame 


20  AMERICAN    TK.Ul'KUANeE  SOCiiVl  1  .  [J40 

of  fire,  and  who  is  a  just  God  ;is  well  as  Saviour,  when*)  fire  shall 
be  kindled  in  his  anger  which  shall  burn  to  the  lowest  hell;  and  all 
the  proud,  and  all  that  do  wickedly  shall  be  as  stubble  7" 

Said  a  member  of  Congress,  at  a  meeting  in  the  Capitol,  "  It  has 
long  been  settled  by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  most  distin- 
guished physicians,  that  alcohol  is  a  rank  and  deadly  poison- — that 
in  its  effects  it  resembles  arsenic,  and  that  though  slower  in  its 
operation,  it  is  not  less  certain  and  destructive  in  its  results.  Ay, 
that  it  is  infinitely  more  so ;  that  it  poisons,  destroys,  kills  both  the 
body  and  the  mind  ;  that  the  inevitable  tendency  of  its  use  is  the 
paralysation  of  the  health,  the  destruction  of  the  human  constitu- 
tion ;  the  prostration  of  morals  ;  the  accumulation  of  crime  ;  the 
augmentation  of  the  sum  total  of  human  wickedness  and  human 
misery ;  the  derangement  and  stupefaction  of  the  intellect ;  the 
oblivion  of  every  social  and  religious  obligation  ;  the  extinction  of 
the  love  of  honor  in  the  human  breast ;  and  the  annihilation  of 
every  high  and  holy  feeling  of  the  soul,  which  elevates  man  above 
the  brutes  that  perish,  and  allies  him  to  God  !  Who  is  not,  then, 
ready  to  exclaim,  that  the  mere  use  of  this  poison,  is  of  itself  a 
crime  ?  A  crime,  however,  which  sinks  into  insignificance  when 
compared  with  that  of  making  and  vending  it  for  the  destruction  of 
others — a  crime  that  whitens  into  innocence  when  contrasted  with 
that  of  creating  and  pouring  upon  mankind  this  desolating  stream 
of  moral  death,  this  cataract  of  liquid  fire,  to  blast  the  rising  glories 
of  our  country,  and  desolate  the  land. — Time  was  when  these  re- 
sults were  either  unthought  of  or  unknown  ;  when  the  making  and- 
vending  of  this  now  well-knowrn  cause  of  disease  and  death,  of 
crime  and  wretchedness,  was  either  sustained  by  the  voice  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  or  indulged  without  reprobation.  But,  light  has  come 
upon  us.  In  that  light  a  new  law  has  revealed  itself.  It  is  founded 
in  moral  justice,  and  is  eternal.  It  is  no  longer  unpublished  or 
unknown  to  the  world.  It  has  been  written,  as  it  were,  by  the 
finger  of  God,  in  glaring  capitals  of  living  light,  in  characters  of 
unutterable  brightness  upon  the  margin  of  the  heavens.  All  na- 
tions have  read,  and  are  preparing  to  obey  it.  It  forbids  man, 
under  the  penalty  of  its  eternal  malediction — to  deal  in  this  poison.. 
It  forbids  him  to  scatter  it  like  '  firebrands,  arrows  and  death/ 
among  the  children  of  his  race.  No  one  can  longer  plead  igno- 
rance of  its  mandates,  or  of  its  penalties.  No  one  can  longer  deny, 
that  from  this  source,  (the  manufacture  and  traffic  of  this  destruc- 
tive fluid)  flows  a  train  of  evils,  which  embody  every  variety  of 
human  crime  and  human  misery  ;  which  convert  the  blessings  of 
heaven  into  curses,  and  those  of  life  into  the  tortures  of  disease — 
the  madness  of  despair — the  premature  agonies  of  temporal  and 
eternal  death.  Without  this  agency,  all  these  vast  and  complicated 
evils  would  cease  to  exist.     The  individual,  therefore,  who  manu- 


54rj 


SIXTH    REPORT. — 18»&.  21 


factures  or  traffics  in  this  poison,  knowing  and  reflecting  upon  the 
wide-spread  ruin  and  desolation  which  result  from  his  agency  in 
increasing  its  consumption,  is*  in  the  eye  of  Heaven,  responsible 
for  all,  and  richly  merits  the  disfavor  and  reprobation  of  his  coun- 
try.    Where,  in  the  eye  of  eternal  justice,  is  the  difference  between 
him  who  strikes  the  blow  of  death,  and  him  who  knowingly  mad- 
dens the  brain,  and  tempts  and  fires  the  soul  to  strike  it?     Where 
is  the  difference  between  him  who  by  the  sale  and  dissemination  of 
this  subtle  poison,  causes  four  fifths  of  the  pauperism,  crime,  sick- 
ness, wretchedness,  insanity  and  death,  which   afflict  the  world  j 
and  him  who  does  it  by  the  manufacture  and   universal   diffusion 
of '  miasmatic  cholera?  if  you  please,  or  by  the  administration  of 
other  poisons  ?     What  matters  it  to  the  widowed  wife  and  wretched 
orphan,  whether  you  consign  the  husband  and  father  to  a  prema- 
ture grave  by  the  midnight  dagger,  or  by  the  lingering  tortures  of 
the  drunkard's  death  ?     The  difference  is  only  in  the  form  :  In  the 
form  did  I  say  ?     I  correct  myself.     The  enormity  of  guilt  rests 
with  a  heavier  weight  upon  the  head  of  the  death-dealing  grocer. 
In  the  first  case  the  destroyer  inflicts  upon  the  suffering  survivor  a 
bereavement  unembittered  with  shame,  and  unstained  by  dishonor. 
While  in  the  latter  he  superadds  to  the  crime  of  murder,  and  to 
the   destitution  and   loneliness  of  orphanage  and  widowhood,  the 
wretched  inheritance  of  poverty  and  disgrace.     I  repeat,  therefore, 
that  it  is  now  too  late  to  deny  either  the  criminality  of  this  traffic, 
or  the  magnitude  of  the  evils  which  result  from  it.     I  speak  not  of 
the  gallows-chains,  the  gibbets,  the  alms-houses,  the  dungeons,  and 
the  penitentiaries,  to  whose  ravening  heights  and  hungry  walls,  the 
makers  and  venders  of  this  poison  are  but  the  recruiting  sergeants. 
I  speak  not  now  of  fields  turned  to  waste — of  homes  deserted^-^of 
hearths  desolated— of  happiness  forever  blasted,  and  hopes  forever 
crushed   beneath  the  withering  tread  of  this  fell  destroyer.     Nor 
will  time  permit  me  to  point  you  even  for  a  moment,  to  those  scenes 
of  grovelling  dissipation,  of  frantic  riot,  of  desperate  revenge,  and 
of  brutal  abandonment,  from  which  the  once  kind  husband  and  the 
father  is  sent  home,  transformed  into  an  infuriated  demon,  to  his 
trembling  wife  and  famished  children,  the  object  alike  of  terror,  of 
shame,  and  of  heart-rending  commiseration.     I  cannot  speak  of 
those  truly  tragical  results  of  this  inhuman  traffic;  of  those  scenes 
of  unutterable  wretchedness  and  agony  of  soul,  over  which  my 
heart  has  often  bled,  even  in  the  far  off  peaceful  wilds  of  the  West ; 
of  those  scenes,  in  which  I  myself  have  seen  this  demon  of  de- 
struction rising  on  his  pedestal  of  broken  hearts  and  blasted  hopes, 
and,  intent  on  gain,  filling  the  very  air  with  moral  pestilence,  blast- 
ing every  noble  and  manly  feeling  of  the  human  heart,  and  pouring 
from  his  poisoned   chalice  his  fiery  streams  of  agony  and  despair 
into  the  once  happy  and  cherished  circle  of  domestic   peace  and 
18 


:, 


22  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [248 

love.  These  are  the  scenes  in  which  the  effects  of  this  most  in- 
excusable traffic  in  ardent  spirits  are  exhibited  :  these  the  scenes, 
where  cruel  and  cold-hearted  avarice,  for  the  sake  of  a  few  paltry 
sixpences,  palsies  every  healthful  pulse  of  life,  and  sharpens  every 
pang  of  death — where  the  grim  master  of  the  sacrifice  himself, 
coming  forth  from  his  dark  Aceldama  of  human  blood,  strikes  down 
every  hope  that  can  cheer,  and  wrings  every  fibre  that  can  feel, 
before  he  gives  the  final  blow  that  sends  the  suffering  victim  to 
eternity.  Can  that  traffic  be  justified  by  an  enlightened  and  vir- 
tuous people,  which  thus  alone  holds  out  the  chief  temptation  to 
intemperance,  and  strews  the  land  with  '  beggars,  and  widows,  and 
orphans,  and  crimes,'— which  breaks  up  the  foundations  of  social 
happiness,  consigns  millions  prematurely  to  their  graves,  and  fills 
the  world  with  wailings,  lamentations,  and  woe  ?  I  answer,  No. 
Policy,  morality,  patriotism,  religion  condemn  it." 

Says  an  eminent  European  writer,  "  Let  him  who  sells  ardent 
spirit  bring  the  practices  of  his  daily  calling  to  the  standard  of  the 
Bible;  and  when  he  stores  his  ship  with  this  body  and  soul  destroy- 
ing agent ;  when  he  holds  out  its  tempting  symbols  to  his  friends 
and  to  all  around  him  ;  when  he  knows  its  deleterious  nature,  and 
sees  its  demoralizing  tendency  ;  when  his  hands  are  polluted  in 
transmitting  it  to  the  hand  of  the  drunkard  ; — when  husbands,  and 
wives,  and  mothers,  and  children,  are  pining  in  indigence  and 
hopeless  sorrow  caused  by  that  very  article  which  it  is  his  business 
to  retail,  let  him  inquire  whether  he  can  be  a  participant  in,  or  a 
cause  of  such  scenes  and  yet  be  free  from  guilt.  Let  him  inquire 
whether  he  can  conscientiously  go  to  his  keees,  and  pray  for  the 
blessing  of  God  to  rest  upon,  and  to  prosper  the  works  of  his  hands. 
Let  him  inquire  whether  he  seriously  believes,  that  God  will  send 
forth  his  hogsheads  of  whiskey,  or  rum,  or  brandy  to  be  a  blessing 
to  his  fellow  men  ;  or  whether  he  can  lie  down  on  his  pillow  at 
night  with  a  calm  and  tranquil  mind,  when  he  thinks  on  the  mis- 
erable and  wretched  beings  whom  he  has  been  helping  to  destroy, 
and  some  of  whom  have  passed  into  eternity  under  the  influence 
of  spirits  provided  for  them  within  his  door.  Let  him  ponder  well 
such  passages  of  the  word  of  God  as  these,  and  then  let  conscience 
give  her  verdict.  '  Woe  to  him  that  giveth  his  neighbor  drink, 
and  maketh  him  drunken.'  '  Let  no  man  put  a  stumbling  block,  or 
an  occasion  to  fall  in  his  brother's  way.'  '  Have  no  fellowship 
with  the  unfruitful  works  of  darkness.'  '  Let  no  man  seek  his 
own,  but  every  man  another's  wealth.'  '  Whether  therefore  ye 
eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God.'  " 

And  after  quoting  from  a  writer  of  our  own  country  the  decla- 
ration, that  could  each  hogshead  of  whiskey  which  a  Christian  sells, 
come  back,  and  as  it  enters  his  door  tell  him  of  the  families  it  has 
made  miserable,  the  wives  it  has  made  widows,  and  the  children  it 


249]  sixth  report.— 1833.  23 

has  made  orphans,  he  would  start  back  from  the  traffic  as  he  would 
from  the  pit  of  perdition  ;  and  after  stating  many  horrible  cases  of 
its  effects  upon  those  who  sell,  and  those  who  buy,  and  saying  that 
it  seems  as  if  the  same  malignant  spirit  reigned  every  where  in  the 
bosoms  of  those  who  have  sold  themselves  to  strong  drink,  and 
that  nothing  appears  too  base  or  Satanic  for  them  to  perpetrate,  he 
adds,  "When  will  the  moral  man,  and  the  Christian  withdraw  alto- 
gether from  countenancing,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  this  system 
of  iniquity ;  and  resolve  neither  to  make,  sell,  or  use  these  distilled 
liquors,  which  are  so  preeminently  Satan's  instruments  of  evil  to  a 
guilty  world." 

Such  is  the  voice  of  the  press,  both  in  this  country,  and  in 
Europe.  And  the  truth  which  it  has  uttered  has  commended  itself 
to  the  conscience,  and  operates  powerfully  and  efficaciously  on  the 
heart. 

Multitudes  have  during  the  past  year  renounced  the  unhallowed 
and  degrading  traffic  ;  and  greater  multitudes  have  been  impressed 
with  its  awful  wickedness  and  guilt.  One  man  writes,  "The  pub- 
lications on  this  subject,  if  circulated  and  read,  must  drive  every 
man  of  conscience  out  of  this  traffic,  or  drive  him  distracted." 
Another  man  remarks,  "  Every  man  who  is  in  this  traffic  must  re- 
nounce it  or  give  up  his  religion;  for  Christian  character  and  rum- 
selling  cannot  any  longer  go  together."  Another  man  writes, 
"  Makers  and  venders  of  ardent  spirits  have  no  souls;  if  they  had, 
and  understood  what  they  are  doing,  they  could  not  continue  in 
their  present  employment." 

These  are  indeed  strong  expressions  ;  but  they  show  the  current 
of  public  sentiment,  and  the  deep  abhorrence  with  which  reflecting 
men  view  that  fatal  employment. 

A  respectable  master  miil-wright  was  solicited  to  repair  the 
pumps  of  a  distillery  ;  but  he  refused,  and  said  that  he  could  not 
without  a  violation  of  conscience,  even  in  the  way  of  business,  aid 
in  expediting  the  manufacture  of  an  article  that  was  working  such 
terrible  destruction  among  his  fellow  men.  Another  man  was  ap- 
plied to,  to  paint  a  sign  that  should  show  the  passing  traveller  the 
place  in  which  he  could  get  the  poison.  But  though  dependent  on 
his  business  for  his  living,  he  promptly  refused  ;  and  let  the  appli- 
cant know  that  he  believed  it  to  be  morally  wrong  thus  to  assist  in 
destroying  others. 

A  miller  who  lived  in  a  State  that  required  by  law,  that  millers 
should  grind  such  grain  as  might  be  brought  to  them  for  that  pur- 
pose, when  grain  was  brought  to  be  ground  for  distillation,  refused 
to  grind  it.  He  would  not  have  his  mill  prostituted  to  such  a  vile 
and  loathsome  purpose.  He  could  not  do  it  without  a  violation 
of  moral  duty,  and  he  felt  bound,  though  it  was  a  breach  of  human 
law,  to  refuse.    He  did  refuse,  like  a  man  who  was  not  afraid  to  do 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [250 

right.  The  destroyer  however,  continuing  intent  upon  his  gain, 
the  man  was  prosecuted  and  fined.  He  applied  to  the  Legisla- 
ture ;  whereupon  they  passed  the  following  act,  viz.  u  It  is  here- 
by enacted, — that  an  act  entitled,  '  an  act,  relating  to  mills  and 
millers,'  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  make  any  owner  or  occu- 
pier of  any  mill,  liable  to  the  penally  therein  named,  who  shall 
lefuse,  or  neglect  to  grind  any  grain  brought  to  such  mill  to  be 
ground  for  the  avowed,  or  apparent  purpose,  of  manufacturing 
such  grain  into  distilled  spirits;  nor  liable  to  any  suit  or  action  for 
so  refusing."  And,  says  an  energetic  writer,  speaking  of  this  man, 
"  He  has  done  well,  and  has  shown  that  a  good,  well  informed 
conscience,  resolutely  obeyed,  will  make  its  possessor  a  benefactor 
to  mankind.  Time,  place,  occupation,  circumstances  cannot  hin- 
der it.  Though  shut  up  in  a  grist-mill,  busy  in  watching  the  fine- 
ness of  Indian  meal  as  it  comes  from  between  the  stones,  such  a 
man  may  amend  the  legislation  of  States,  and  Empires,  and  hasten 
the  march  of  mankind  towards  the  enjoyment  of  all  their  rights  ; 
by  just  doing  one  duty  after  another,  as  they  come  along,  without 
being  deterred  by  fear  of  consequences." 

In  another  State  a  town  applied  to  the  Legislature  for  an  act  of 
incorporation.  While  the  bill  was  before  the  lower  house,  a  mem- 
ber moved  to  strike  out  the  3d  section,  which  contained  the  usual 
authority  to  town  officers  to  grant  licenses  to  retail  spirituous 
liquors.  An  animated  debate  ensued  ;  and  in  which  the  advocates 
for  licenses,  assumed  the  same  rights  for  the  town  in  question  to 
regulate  its  own  morals,  as  had  been  granted  to  other  towns.  The 
mover*  replied  that  the  Legislature  had  no  right  to  authorise  the 
granting  of  licenses  for  such  a  purpose.  A  noble  sentiment,  wor- 
thy to  be  written  in  letters  of  gold  ;  and  destined  soon  to  be  the 
opinion  Tjf  the  world.  He  said  that  he  considered  it  to  be  their 
duty  as  .guardians  of  the  public  welfare,  to  take  a  stand  on  this 
subject.  He  did  not  legislate,  with  reference  to  the  state  of  things 
in  that  town,  which  he  presumed  was  not  worse  than  in  others, 
but  he  would  oppose  any  measure,  whencesoever  it  proceeded, 
which  tended  to  spread  the  pernicious  influence  of  intemperance. 
And  on  the  final  question  the  motion  to  strike  out  prevailed  by  a 
large  majority. 

The  keeper  of  a  little  grog-shop  in  a  narrow  dirty  lane,  said  to 
his  acquaintance,  "  These  temperance  folks  are  doing  a  deal  of 
mischief.  On  Saturday  night,  the  workmen,  after  getting  their 
wages,  on  their  way  home  used  to  stop  at  my  store  and  drink.  I 
used  on  that  night  and  the  next  day  to  take  a  hundred  dollars, 
but  now  I  cannot  take  ten."  A  deal  of  mischief  to  be  sure,  as  the 
Jtber  ninety  dollars  now  goes  to  support  their  starving  families. 

And  what  a  deal  of  mischief  will  legislators  do,  when  they  shall 
oo   longer  sanction  by  legislation  the  licensing  of  men  to  sell  ar- 


251 J  SIXTH    KEPORT. 1833.  25 

dent  spirit,  and  thus  to  take  on  Saturday  night  and  Sabbath  day, 
a  hundred  dollars  from  starving  families  ;  and  instead  of  poisoning 
the  father  and  rendering  him  a  maniac,  shall  let  him  remain  sober, 
to  carry  bread  and  clothing,  peace  and  joy,  to  his  wife  and  children. 

Another  man,  licensed  to  sell,  and  acting  under  the  full  sanction 
of  legislative  authority,  had  on  hand  a  quantity  of  spirit.  Finding- 
no  opportunity  to  sell  it,  where  it  might  net  be  drunk  and  destroy 
his  fellow  men  ;  and  not  being  willing  to  do  that  for  money,  he  turned 
it  into  the  sea.  He  had  rather  lose  it,  than  to  have  the  drinker 
lose  it,  and  with  it,  as  he  might  should  he  drink  it,  lose  his  life,  and 
his  soul.  Though  he  could  get  the  money  for  it,  he  did  not  be- 
lieve it  to  be  right  in  that  way  to  make  money  ;  because  it  tended 
to  destroy  others.  He  did  not  believe  it  to  be  right  for  him  to  teach 
the  doctrine,  as  he  would  should  he  sell  it,  that  men  can  without 
committing  sin,  buy  and  drink  it.  He  did  not  believe  it  would  be 
right,  even  should  he  appropriate  the  avails  to  the  distribution  of 
the  Bible,  or  the  relief  of  the  poor.  As  Jehovah  abhors  robbery 
for  sacrifice,  he  knew  that  he  would  not  accept  the  fruit  of  a  traf- 
fic which  does  more  mischief  than  robbery  itself.  He  therefore 
resolved  to  cleanse  his  hands  and  purify  his  heart  from  that  covet- 
ousness,  which  leads  men,  for  the  sake  of  money,  to  desolate  and 
destroy. 

Another  man,  who  was  convinced  that  it  is  wrong  to  make  ardent 
spirit,  to  import  or  to  vend  it,  was  yet  not  so  sure  that  there  might 
not  be  a  case,  in  which  a  cargo  consigned  to  him,  not  from  another 
country  but  from  his  own,  might  be  lawfully  sold,  as,  if  he  should 
not  sell  it,  some  other  man  would,  and  his  doing  it  would  not  in- 
crease the  quantity  in  the  country  or  the  amount  that  would  be  used. 
He  had  such  a  cargo,  and  after  considerable  doubt  and  hesitation, 
he  sold  it  and  took  the  commission.  But  said  he,  after  reflection, 
"  1  believe  I  ought  not  to  keep  that  money."  He  chose  not  to  re- 
tain it.  And  he  appropriated  it  to  the  dissemination  of,  informa- 
tion as  to  the  natcre  and  effects  of  spirituous  liquors,  for  the  purpose, 
as  far  ;>s  practicable,  of  convincing  all  men  that  it  is  wicked  to 
make,  import,  sell,  or  drink  it.  Should  a  man  sell  "it,  even  on 
commission,  though  another  man  would  sell  it  if  he  should  not,  he 
would  teach  by  that  act  the  fatally  erroneous  doctrine,  that  it  is 
not  wicked  to  buy  and  drink  it ; — a  doctrine  which  no  man  can 
teach,  without  being  accessory  to  the  evils,  temporal  and  eternal, 
which  it  occasions. 

And  this,  with  Christians  and  sober  men,  in  proportion  as  they 
examine  the  subject,  is  becoming  more  and  more  the  deep  and 
universal  conviction. 

The  Clerk  of  a  Presbytery  writes,  "  We  have  within  our  bounds 
twenty-one  churches  ;  and  there  is  not  an  individual  in  cither,  who 
is  in  any  way  connected  with  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit."  There 
3  18* 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [^52 

are  ten  such  churches  in  the  city  of  Boston,  and  twenty  in  the 
city  of  New  York  ;  and  the  Committee  are  led  to  believe,  more 
than  a  thousand  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  The  impression  is 
now  common  that  for  men  to  profess  religion  and  covenant  before 
heaven  and  earth  to  do  good  as  they  have  opportunity  to  all  men, 
and  then  make  it  a  business  to  manufacture,  or  sell,  that  which 
produces  such  unmixed  and  overwhelming  evils,  is  solemn  mock- 
ery. To  go  from  the  communion  table  to  the  grog-shop,  the 
liquor  store,  or  the  distillery,  and  pour  out  streams  of  death  over 
the  community,  is  an  abomination  in  the  sight  of  heaven,  which  the. 
great  Head  of  the  Church,  who  died  to  redeem  it  unto  himself,  re- 
quires should  be  universally  and  forever  done  away.  And  those 
who,  notwithstanding  all  the  light  which  the  church  can  now  fur- 
nish as  to  the  nature  and  effects  of  this  traffic,  still  continue  in  it, 
are  viewed  as  unfit  for  her  communion.  And  increasing  numbers 
believe  that  they  are  forbidden  by  the  sacred  oracles  to  be  acces- 
sory to  the  introduction  of  such  persons  into  the  visible  church. 
Numbers  of  churches  have  been  formed,  with  the  understanding 
among  the  members  that  no  such  persons  are  ever  to  be  admitted. 
Nor  is  this,  as  some  suppose,  adopting  a  new  rule  or  test  of  ad- 
mission to  churches,  or  one  not  recognized  in  the  Bible.  It  is  only 
the  application  of  the  principles  and  requirements  of  the  scriptures 
correctly  to  this  case,  whereas  in  times  past,  through  ignorance  and 
error,  they  have  not  been  so  applied.  The  Bible  does  not  indeed 
say,  in  so  many  words,  that  retailers  of  spirit,  or  distillers,  shall 
not  be  admitted  to  the  church.  Neither  does' it  say,  that  gam- 
blers, or  counterfeiters  of  the  public  coin,  shall  not  be  admitted 
to  the  church.  And  yet  Christians  act,  and  long  have  acted  as  if  it 
said  so  ;  and  they  are  forbidden  to  act  otherwise.  Why  ?  because 
those  practices  are  immoral,  and  as  really  known  to  be  such  as 
if  they  were  mentioned  by  name,  and  denounced -as  immoralities  in 
the  Bible.     So  with  the  traffic,  in  ardent  spirit. 

If,  with  all  the  light  which,  from  the  Scriptures  and  from  facts, 
the  church  can  now  furnish,  a  man  does  not  renounce  the  traffic, 
he  fails  to  exhibit  that  evidence  of  being  a  good  man,  which  would 
justify  others  in  receiving  and  treating  him  as  such. 

Besides,  as  the  business  is  immoral,  if  it  must  be  continued,  less 
mischief  will  be  done  if  it  is  carried  on  only  by  men  out  of  the 
church,  than  if  it  is  carried  on  also  by  church  members.  And 
as  most  of  the  troubles  which  the  churches  have  had  with  their 
members  have  arisen  from  this  employment,  they  are  bound  in  self 
defeiace  not  to  admit  such  persons  to  their  communion.  They 
have  too  many  such  in  the  churches  already  ;  and  they  are  bound 
not  to  increase  the  number.  If  they  do,  they  will  increase  their 
weakness  and  their  sorrows.  This  employment  is  one  of  the  most 
powerful  obstructions  to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  one  of  the 


253]  SIXTH    REPORT.—  1S33.  27 

greatest  hindrances  to  tUe  salvation  of  men.  The  greater  the  in- 
fluence of  men,  who  sanction  a  vicious  employment,  the  greater 
the  mischief.  Regard,  therefore,  to  the  good  of  others,  requires 
them  to  take  this  course.  They  cannot  do  otherwise  without  great 
evil,  and  great  guilt. 

Some  indeed  suppose,  although  it  is  a  wicked  employment,  yet 
as  some  men  will  have  spirit,  and  other  men  will  sell  it,  it  had  bet- 
ter be  sold  by  good  men,  than  bad  ;  by  professors  of  religion, 
rather  than  by  others.  This  is  a  great  mistake.  Some  men  will 
have  counterfeit  money  if  they  can  get  it,  and  other  men  will  make 
it,  and  others  sell  it ;  some  by  wholesale,  or  on  commission,  and 
others  by  retail.  And  some  will  use  it  moderately  and  prudently 
themselves.  They  have  done  so  perhaps  for  years,  and  do  not 
see  that  it  injures  them,  and  may  contend  that  there  is  no  hurt  in 
it,  as  they  manage  it.  But  is  it  no  worse  for  this  to  be  done  by 
church  members,  than  by  the  abandoned  ?  will  it  be  better  for  pro- 
fessed Christians  to  be  engaged  in  wickedness,  because  they  will 
do  it  more  decently,  and  in  a  manner  less  outrageous  to  public 
feeling  ?  Will  they  not  by  doing  it  inculcate,  by  the  whole  weight 
of  their  character,  that  it  is  right,  and  thus  give  it  respectability  ? 
•or  else  that  they,  although  professors  of  godliness,  will  for  money 
knowingly  and  habitually  do  wrong  ?  And  would  not  either  of 
these  doctrines  be  a  reproach  to  religion?  and  if  taught  by  the 
practice  of  good  men  would  it  not  do  vastly  more  mischief  than 
if  taught  only  by  notoriously  bad  men?  Who  can  doubt  it?  Sa- 
tan himself,  when  there  is  a  demand  for  it,  and  some  men  will 
carry  it  on,  might  delight  to  have  members  of  the  church,  and  the 
best  and  most  influential  men  in  the  community,  engaged  in  his 
most  infernal  business.  And  he  might  be  willing  even  to  be  laid 
under  some  restrictions,  if  the  business  could  be  licensed,  and  thus 
have  the  sanction  of  legislative  authority.  It  would  aid  him  by 
removing  one  of  his  greatest  obstructions,  arising  from  the  con- 
sciences of  men,  and  from  the  convictions  that  his  business  is 
wicked,  and  that  the  end  thereof  is  death.  He  might  be  willing 
that  his  followers  should  even  pay  something  for  a  license,  and  that 
there  should  be,  nominally  at  least,  some  penalty  attached  to  out- 
rageous excess  ;  and  he  might  plead  that  the  best  men  in  the 
community  should  carry  on  the  business,  because  they  would  do 
it  with  more  regularity.  But  would  it  promote  the  cause  of  virtue 
and  the  cause  of  God  ?  and  would  it  lessen  the  power  of  the  ad- 
versary ?  does  he  not  know,  that  the  more  respectable  he  can 
make  a  wicked  employment,  the  greater  will  be  the  mischief? 

A  notorious  gambler  at  the  head  of  a  large  establishment,  the 
keeping  of  which  was  made  penal,  but  into  which,  in  violation  of 
law,  public  sentiment  and  conscience,  many  a  youth  and  many  a 
man,  under  the  cover  of  night  had  stepped  and  been  ruined,  plead 


28  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [254 

strongly  that  such  establishments,  for  the  public  good,  should  be 
licensed.  He  would  be  willing  to  pay,  if  needful,  a  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year ;  and  be  willing  too  to  be  laid,  nominally  at  least,  under 
some  restrictions,  and  to  have  some  penalty  attached  to  great  ex- 
cess. He  said,  if  such  establishments  were  licensed  they  might 
be  controlled,  and  be  made  to  yield  a  large  revenue  to  the  gov- 
ernment. And  such  men,  in  such  cases,  can  talk  long  and  loud, 
about  revenue,  and  regularity,  and  decency,  and  the  public  good  ; 
and  appear  very  patriotic  ;  while  their  business  is  undermining  the 
pillars  of  the  Republic,  and  is  such  as  the  great  enemy  of  God  and 
man  would  have  it.  But  he  did  not  add,  that  this  would  remove 
the  odium  of  vice,  without  changing  its  character  ;  make  the  way 
to  death  more  respectable,  and  thus  draw  a  greater  number  into  it. 
He  did  not  add  what,  had  he  told  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth, 
he  must  have  added,  that  it  would  ward  off"  from  those  sinks  of 
iniquity  the  frown  of  public  indignation,  and  stifle  many  a  conscience, 
and  remove  the  last  barrier  between  many  a  soul  and  endless  ruin. 
And  let  men  who  plead  that  a  wicked  business  should  be  licensed, 
or  be  carried  on  by  good  men,  not  forget  that  they  advocate  the 
cause  of  the  great  destroyer. 

A  vender  of  lottery  tickets  contrary  to  law,  said,  "  It  is  a  bad 
business,  but  then  somebody  will  carry  it  on,  and  it  ought  to  be 
licensed.  The  Legislature  can  then  control  it,  and  prevent  a 
great  deal  of  mischief;  and  it  might  be  a  source  of  revenue  to  the 
State.  Men  will  buy  tickets,  legislators  make  laws  against  it, 
and  then  come  themselves,  and  buy  the  tickets.  I  have  sold  more 
than  four  hundred  dollars  worth  of  tickets  to  members  of  the  Leg- 
islature within  four  weeks.  It  ought  to  be  licensed."  So  the 
men  who  carry  on  the  system  of  public  swindling,  and  their  associ- 
ates reason.  They  too,  would  be  willing,  nay  glad  to  pay  for 
a  license,  for  this  would  varnish  over  with  legislative  sanction,  and 
in  view  of  multitudes  hide  the  odiousness  of  their  high-handed  ini- 
quity. But  the  people  begin  to  think,  that  it  is  better  for  their 
legislators  not  to  license  the  perpetrators  of  such  iniquity  ;  but  if 
they  continue  to  injure  (he  community,  and  nothing  else  will  prevent 
it,  to  send  them  to  the  State  Prison.  The  community  have  already 
begun  to  speak  on  this  subject,  and  legislators  have  begun  to  hear.* 
May  they  continue  to  speak,  in  louder  and  deeper  tones,  till  the 
practice  of  licensing  iniquity,  and  thus  throwing  over  it  the  shield 
of  legislative  sanction,  and  warding  off  public  rebuke,  shall  univer- 
sally and  forever  cease. 

In  the  month  of  October  the  Committee  of  the  New  York  City 
Temperance  Society  applied  to  our  Secretary  to  assist  them  in  com- 
pleting a  thorough  Temperance  organization  of  that  city.    A  Society 

*  Appendix  B. 


255 J  sixth  report.— 1833.  29 

was  organized  in  every  Ward,  and  a  Committee  appointed  in  each, 
of  from  thirty  to  eighty  men.  A  map  of  each  Ward  was  procured, 
the  Ward  divided  into  districts,  and  each  district  committed  to  the 
care  of  some  member  of  the  Committee,  who  engaged  to  visit 
every  family,  put  into  it  a  Temperance  Circular,  and  invite  its 
members  to  join  the  Temperance  Society.  To  a  considerable 
extent,  this  was  accomplished  before  the  26th  of  February,  the 
day  appointed  for  simultaneous  meetings  throughout  the  country. 
On  that  day  one  of  the  largest  and  most  interesting  meetings  ever 
known  in  the  city,  was  holden  at  the  Chatham  Street  Chapel,  and 
was  addressed  by  a  number  of  eminent  citizens,  with  great  power 
and  effect.  From  the  Report  presented  on  that  occasion,  it  ap- 
peared, though  only  partial  reports  had  been  made,  that  the  num- 
ber of  members  of  Temperance  Societies  in  the  city  was  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  thousand  ;  and  that  they  had  been  more  than 
doubled  during  the  last  year.*  The  work  is  still  going  forward,  and 
could  an  agent  of  the  right  character  be  permanently  located  in 
that  city,  and  a  system  of  effort  be  pursued  to  put  information  on 
this  subject  into  every  family,  the  work  of  moral  reform,  so  happily 
begun,  might  by  the  divine  blessing  be  carried  forward  to  a  tri- 
umphant consummation  ;  and  from  that  great  fountain  of  wealth  and 
influence,  streams  of  life  and  salvation  flow  out  over  the  whole 
country.  Nor  would  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  be  among  the 
least  of  the  gainers.  Let  the  population  of  that  great  and  growing 
metropolis  cease  to  use  and  vend  ardent  spirit,  or  to  practise  the 
vices  to  which  it  leads,  and  the  sad  spectacle  of  two  hundred  thous- 
and dollars  expended  to  support  paupers  and  prosecute  the  crimi- 
nals, and  an  hundred  thousand  to  meet  the  wants  of  sickness, which 
it  occasions ;  fifty  thousand  people  fleeing  from  their  homes  to  es- 
cape the  ravages  of  the  Cholera,  and  the  universal  stagnation  of 
business  causing  a  loss  of  a  million  dollars  more,  and  the  woful 
sacrifice  in  three  months  of  more  than  three  thousand  lives,  would 
probably  not  again  be  seen.  Ceasing  to  manufacture  and  sell 
death,  its  ravages  to  a  great  extent  would  cease.  And  let  her  hun- 
dred churches,  like  the  twenty  referred  to,  and  the  thousand  in 
other  parts  of  the  country  be  freed  from  all  members  who  stand  at 
the  fountain  head  and  pour  out  streams  of  desolation  over  the  coun- 
try ;  and  let  all  who  name  the  name  of  Christ,  imitate  his  example 
of  doing  good  and  good  only  as  they  have  opportunity  to  all,  and 
Zion  will  arise  and  shine,  her  light  being  come,  and  the  glory  6f 
the  Lord,  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  will  break  forth  upon  her. 
Violence  will  no  more  be  heard  in  our  land,  wasting  or  destruction 
within  our  borders — our  walls  will  be  salvation,  and  our  gates  will 
be  praise.  * 

In  December,  1832,  die  Committee  issued   (he  following  Cir- 
cular, viz. 

*  They  have  since  been  increased  to  more  than  50,000,  Julv,  1835. 

3* 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [256 

"  As  the  success  of  the  Temperance  cause  depends  upon  the 
universal  diffusion  of  correct  information  among  all  classes  ol 
people,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society  have  thought  proper  to  adopt  the  following  Resolutions: 

1.  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  that  delegates  from  Tempe- 
rance Societies  and  the  friends  of  Temperance  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States  be  invited  to  meet  in  Convention,  to  consider  the 
best  means  of  extending,  by  a  general  diffusion  of  information,  and 
the  exertion  of  a  kind  and  persuasive  moral  influence,  the  princi- 
ple of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  throughout  out 
country. 

2.  That  measures  be  immediately  taken  to  procure  such  a  Con- 
vention, to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  on  the  24th  day  of 
May,  1833. 

3.  That  each  State  Temperance  Society  be,  and  hereby  is,  re- 
quested to  send  three  or  more  delegates,  and  each  County  Society 
to  send  one  or  more  delegates  to  the  proposed  Convention. 

4.  That  it  be  recommended,  that  the  appointment  of  delegates 
so  far  as  it  shall  be  practicable,  be  made  on  the  26th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary next,  the  day  already  fixed  upon  for  simultaneous  meetings 
of  the  Temperance  Societies  and  friends  of  Temperance,  in  all  the 
cities,  towns  and  villages  throughout  the  United  States. 

5.  That  in  those  States  and  counties  in  which  no  Temperance 
Society  is  organized,  the  friends  of  Temperance  be,  and  they 
hereby  are,  requested  to  appoint  in  such  manner  as  they  shall  think 
proper,  the  same  number  of  delegates  for  each  State  or  County, 
as  are  proposed  in  the  3d  Resolution,  to  be  appointed  by  the  seve- 
ral State  and  County  Societies  respectively. 

6.  That  all  editors  of  papers  and  other  publications  throughout 
our  country,  who  are  friendly  to  the  cause  of  Temperance,  be  and 
they  hereby  are  respectfully  requested  to  insert  the  foregoing 
resolutions  in  their  several  publications ;  and  in  such  other  ways 
as  they  may  deem  suitable,  to  use  their  influence  to  promote  the 
object  of  the  proposed  Convention, — universal  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirit. 

Samuel  Hubbard,  President. 
John  Tappan, 
George  Odiorne,  , 
Heman  Lincoln,    }Ex.  Committee.1* 
Justin  Edwards, 
Enoch  Hale,  Jr. 

The  call  for  this  Convention  has  been  greeted  with  joy  in  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Numerous  delegates  have  already  been  ap- 
pointed throughout  the  United  States,  and  one  appointed  by  the 
British  and    Foreign   Temperance   Society  has  just  arrived   from 


257]  SIXTH    REPORT. —  1S33.  31 

England  to  attend  the  meeting.  High  hopes  are  entertained  that 
it  will  be  a  numerous  and  powerful  meeting,  and  that  it  will  give  a 
new  impulse  to  the  cause  of  Temperance  throughout  the  world.* 

Early  in  February  our  Secretary  visited  the  city  of  Washington. 
He  was  cordially  welcomed  by  many  members  of  Congress  and 
others,  and  at  the  special  request  of  members  of  both  houses  ad- 
dressed them  on  the  sabbath,  in  the  Capitol,  on  the  subject  of 
Temperance.  The  subsequent  week,  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives liberally  granted  the  use  of  their  hall  for  the  purpose  of  hold- 
ing a  Congressional  Temperance  Meeting.  This  meeting  was 
numerously  attended  by  members  of  Congress,  citizens,  and 
strangers ;  and  produced  a  highly  salutary  effect. 

The  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  War  presided,  and  the  Hon. 
John  Blair,  member  of  Congress  from  Tennessee  was  Secretary 
of  the  meeting.  The  throne  of  grace  was  addressed  by  the  Rev. 
William  Hammet  of  Virginia,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  Chaplain  to  Congress. 

Addresses  were  then  delivered  by  the  Secretary  of  War  ;  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  ; 
The  Hon.  Eleutheros  Cook,  member  of  Congress  from  Ohio ;  the 
Hon.  George  R.  Briggs,  member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts  ; 
Thomas  Sewall,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology  in 
the  Columbian  College,  Washington,  D.  C;  the  Hon.  Lewis  Con- 
diet,  member  of  Congress  from  New  Jersey ;  the  Hon.  Andrew 
Stewart,  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania ;  the  Hon. 
William  Wilkins,  United  States  Senator  from  Pennsylvania;  the 
Hon.  John  Reed,  member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts ;  the 
Hon.  John  Tipton,  United  States  Senator  from  Indiana  ;  and  the 
Hon.  Theodore  Freelinghuysen,  United  States  Senator  from  New 
Jersey  ;  and  the  following  Resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted, 
viz. 

Resolved,  That  the  success  of  the  cause  of  Temperance  in  this, 
and  other  countries,  affords  high  encouragement  to  the  friends  of 
morality  to  persevere  in  their  efforts  till  intemperance  and  its  evils 
are  banished  from  the  earth. 

Resolved,  That  the  manufacture  of,  and  traffic  in  ardent  spirit 
ought  to  be  discountenanced  and  abandoned,  as  incompatible  with 
the  obligations  of  social  and  moral  duty,  by  every  patriot,  and  es- 
pecially by  every  Christian  in  the  country. 

Resolved,  That  total  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  as 
a  drink,  is  the  only  security  to  individuals  against  its  ruinous  con- 
sequences, and  gives  the  only  sure  pledge  of  the  ultimate  success 
of  the  cause  of  Temperance. 

Resolved,  That  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  tends  to  produce  disease 

*  Appendix  C. 


32  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [259 

and  premature  death  ;  and  that  there  is  no  case  in  which  it  is  in- 
dispensable, even  as  a  medicine,  and  in  which  there  may  not  be  an 
adequate  substitute. 

Resolved,  As  the  sense  of  this  meeting,  that  the  liberties  and 
welfare  of  the  nation  are  intimately  and  indissolubly  connected  with 
the  morals  and  virtue  of  the  people.  And  that,  in  the  enactment 
of  laws  for  the  common  benefit,  it  is  equally  the  duty  of  the  Legis- 
lative body  to  guard  and  preserve  the  public  morals  from  corrup- 
tion, as  to  advance  the  pecuniary  interest,  or  to  maintain  the  civil 
rights  and  freedom  of  the  community. 

The  following  resolution  was  to  have  been  presented  by  the 
Hon.  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  member  of  Congress  from  Massachu- 
setts, but  he  was  prevented  by  sickness  from  attending  the  meeting. 

Resolved,  That  the  abolition  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  through- 
out the  army,  has  been  highly  salutary ;  and  that  its  abolition 
throughout  the  navy,  while  it  would  strengthen  the  arm  of  nation,! ! 
defence,  would  elevate  the  character  and  increase  the  respectability 
and  happiness  of  that  interesting  and  important  class  of  our  citizens. 

Resolved,  That  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  abstinence  from 
the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  by  superintendents  of  public  works,  propri- 
etors of  rail  roads,  steamboats,  stages,  &,c.  with  regard  to  all  in 
their  employment,  would  increase  the  value  of  their  services,  as 
well  as  the  comfort  and  safety  of  the  community. 

Resolved,  That  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  and  the  unrestrained 
traffic  in  them,  directly  lead  to  the  introduction  amongst  us,  of  crimes 
and  vice  in  various  forms,  and  to  the  overthrow  of  that  purity  and 
virtue  of  the  people  upon  which  depend  the  permanence  of  our 
free  institutions,  and,  therefore,  ought  to  be  discouraged  and  re- 
sisted by  every  friend  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  throughout  the 
world. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  means  of  universal  success,  the  friends  of 
Temperance  are  bound  to  redouble  their  efforts  by  the  agency  of 
the  press,  and  by  all  other  practical  means  to  enlighten  the  under- 
standings of  their  fellow  men,  and  awaken  their  attention  to  this 
great  and  important  cause. 

Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  who  adopt 
the  principles  of  the  Temperance  reformation,  or  who  wish  to  pro- 
mote it,  to  add  the  influence  of  their  names  and  examples  as  mem- 
bers of  Temperance  Societies,  and  in  all  proper  ways  to  promote 
the  formation  of  such  societies,  until  they  shall  become  universal. 

Resolved,  That  the  Temperance  reformation  is  fundamental  in 
its  influence,  upon  all  the  great  enterprizes,  which  have  for  their 
object  the  intellectual  elevation,  the  moral  purity,  the  social  hap- 
piness, and  the  immortal  prospects  of  mankind. 

The  Hon.  Felix  Grundy,  United  States  Senator  from  Tennes- 
see, then  rose  and  said,  that  he  had  been  highly  gratified,  and  even 


259]  sixth  report. — 1833.  33 

delighted  with  the  meeting.  But,  said  Mr.  G.  let  us  not  stop  here. 
Let  the  facts  and  arguments  which  have  here  been  presented,  go 
out  from  this  place  over  the  land.  Let  them  be  printed  and  cir- 
culated universally.  Let  it  be  seen  by  the  whole  American  peo- 
ple, that  men  in  high  places,  men  whom  the  people  have  elevated 
to  represent  them  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  are  the 
friends,  the  patrons,  and  the  active,  zealous,  and  persevering  pro- 
moters of  the  cause  of  Temperance.  Let  them  see  that  this  bless- 
ed cause  has  taken  possession,  even  of  the  Capitol,  and  that  it  will 
hold  possession  ;  and  from  this  elevated  spot,  this  strong  hold  of 
liberty,  will  extend  itself  over  the  whole  country.  He  then  ex- 
pressed his  readiness  to  aid  in  publishing  the  addresses  which  had 
been  delivered,  and  in  their  circulation  through  the  land. 

In  the  able  and  powerful  addresses  which  accompanied  the 
above  resolutions,  the  duty  and  utility  of  entire  abstinence  from  the 
use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  from  the  traffic  in  it,  were  strongly  illus- 
trated ;  and  also  the  benefits,  which  should  this  course  be  adopted, 
would  result  to  our  country  and  the  world.  The  addresses  have 
since  been  published  in  an  octavo  pamphlet  of  forty-eight  pages, 
and  in  other  forms ;  and  have  been  circulated  extensively  through 
the  country.  They  have  awakened  new  interest  and  brougnl 
many  new  and  powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  Temperance  cause.  On 
the  26th  day  of  February,  a  meeting  of  members  of  Congress  was 
holden  in  the  Senate  Chamber  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  Con- 
gressional Temperance  Society.  The  Hon.  William  Wilkins, 
United  States  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  was  called  to  the  chair, 
and  the  Hon.  Walter  Lowrie,  Secretary  of  the  Senate  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  meeting.  The  meet- 
ing was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  John  Proudfit  of  Penn- 
sylvania. After  discussion  and  deliberation,  a  Society  was  formed 
on  the  basis  of  entire  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and 
from  the  traffic  in  it,  called,  The  American  Congressional 
Temperance  Society.  Members  of  Congress,  and  all  who  have 
been  members  of  Congress,  officers  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment, civil  and  military,  and  heads  of  departments,  who  practically 
adopt  the  great  principles  of  the  Society,  by  signing  the  Constitu- 
tion, or  addressing  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  expressive  of  their 
wish  to  do  so,  may  become  members  of  the  Society.  The  Society 
is  to  have  an  annual  meeting  during  the  sessions  of  Congress,  and 
the  Executive  Committee  are,  from  time  to  time,  to  take  such 
measures  as  will  render  the  Society  most  extensively  useful  to  the 
country.* 

At  this  meeting,  and  also  at  the  previous  meeting  in  the  Representa- 
tive's Hall,  the  high  responsibilities  resting  on  members  of  Congress 

*  Appendix  D. 
19 


34  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [260 

and  upon  all  men  in  public  office  was  exhibited  in  strong  and 
glowing  colors ;  and  also  their  duty  to  set  an  example  of  moral 
-purity,  as  well  as  integrity  ;  an  example  which  the  people  may  safely 
follow,  and  which  will  make  rulers  what  alone  they  were  designed 
to  be,  ministers  of  God  for  good  to  the  people.  And  the  Com- 
mittee cannot  but  expect  from  this  high  and  patriotic  example,  the 
most  extensive  and  beneficial  results.  The  rulers  of  a  ?reat  na- 
tion, in  the  halls  of  legislation  recognizing  their  high  moral  obliga- 
tions and  forming  themselves  into  an  association  for  the  purpose  of 
doing  good  by  example  and  kind  moral  influence,  to  their  country 
and  the  world,  is  indeed  a  noble,  a  sublime  spectacle  ;  and  worthy 
of  imitation  by  the  rulers  of  all  States  and  nations  on  the  globe  ; 
and  one  which  we  trust  will  be  speedily  and  extensively  followed. 
On  the  15th  of  March,  a  Society  on  the  same  plan,  was  formed  at 
the  State  House  by  members  of  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts. 
His  Excellency  the  Governor,  is  President ;  His  Honor  Lieuten- 
ant Governor,  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
two  distinguished  laymen  are  Vice  Presidents  ;  and  many  of  the 
legislature  have  already  joined  the  Society.  All  persons,  who  are, 
or  who  have  been  members  of  the  legislative,  executive,  or  judicial 
branches  of  the  government,  and  who  practically  adopt  the  princi- 
ples of  entire  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  and  from  the 
traffic  in  it,  may  become  members.  It  has  already  accomplished 
much  good.  Let  similar  societies  be  formed  in  the  legislature  of 
each  State,  and  by  friends  of  temperance  throughout  the  land,  and 
that  foulest,  deepest  blot  upon  the  human  character,  that  most 
withering  blight  of  human  hopes,  that  mighty  obstruction  to  the 
efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  to  the  intellectual  elevation  and  moral 
purity  of  man  will  be  no  more. 

The  simultaneous  meetings  on  the  26th  of  February  were  attend- 
ed by  great  numbers  and  with  intense  interest,  not  only  throughout 
the  United  States,  but  in  London  and  various  other  places  in  Great 
Britain.  Much  valuable  information  was  communicated,  and  a 
powerful  impulse  given  to  the  cause. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society, 
John  Wilks,  Esq.  member  of  parliament,  said,  "  When  they  found 
that  the  number  of  criminals  in  the  year  amounted  to  195,000,  and 
that  the  number  was  perpetually  increasing,  notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  legislation,  and  that  this  increase  of  crime  is  attributable 
to  intemperance  and  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  they  must  feel  the 
absolute  necessity  of  an  effectual  remedy.  And  what  could  be  so 
efficient  as  the  simple  process  recommended  by  this  Society, — 
persuasion  and  example. 

"  They  were  met  that  day,  and  it  was  delightful  to  think  of  it, 
purely  because  the  great  philanthropists  of  America,  throughout 
the  whole  United  States,  were  also  met  to  offer  their  congratula- 


261]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  35 

tions  to  each  other,  and  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  their 
Divine  Master.  Hundreds  of  thousands  were  that  day  congregated 
from  their  most  northern  regions  to  their  most  southern  parts,  and 
we  are  assembled  with  them  to  thank  God  and  take  courage. 

"  To  America,  we  looked  with  honest  pride,  and  not  there  alone, 
but  to  Sweden,  where  we  were  told  the  monarch — a  monarch  who 
had  led  armies  to  and  through  the  field  ;  felt  spirits  unnecessary  to 
give  energy  to  the  vigorous,  or  bravery  to  the  brave,  and  had  pub- 
lished his  proclamation  that  his  subjects  should  abstain  from  bran- 
dy, which  had  been  to  them  as  it  had  been  to  us,  not  an  angel  of 
mercy  but  of  death.  Go  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  ;  there  the 
testimony  of  Dr.  Phillip  informs  us  that  gin-shops  no  longer  ex- 
ist. A  vast  improvement  was  perceptible  in  the  morals  of  the 
people,  and  the  same  results  were  obtained  which  we  desire  to  see 
accomplished  here.  At  the  Sandwich  Islands,  we  found  that  when 
some  recent  navigators  proposed  to  give  the  natives  hogsheads  of 
ardent  spirits,  the  king  replied,  '  No,  we  will  not  accept  your  pre- 
sent. Break  your  casks,  and  let  their  contents  mingle  with  the 
green  sea  ;  or  give  them,  if  you  please,  to  your  hogs,  but  they  shall 
not  be  drunk  by  real  men.'  Such  a  sentiment  might  become  the 
Sovereign  who  sits  on  our  own  imperial  throne,  and  let  us  hope 
that  it  may  yet  be  heard  in  our  own  dominions.  '  Give  ardent 
spirits  to  the  hogs,  but  they  are  not  what  ought  to  be  bestowed,  or 
received  by  enlightened  or  real  men.'  Such  were  the  encourage- 
ments from  every  part  of  the  world,  and  under  such  circumstances 
as  these,  he,  for  one,  was  glad  that  they  had  accepted  the  invitation 
of  their  American  brethren,  and  had  assembled  with  them  to  offer 
thanks  for  the  past,  and  to  resolve  that  their  future  attempts  should 
correspond  with  the  greatness  of  the  evils  and  the  importance  of 
the  cause.  We  felt  no  jealousy  in  reference  to  America  ;  our 
language  was  the  same  ;  our  origin  the  same ;  we  sprung  from 
the  same  parent ;  our  love  of  liberty  was  the  same  ;  and  our  divine 
religion  was  the  same.  While,  then,  our  Temperance  Societies, 
and  Bible  Societies,  and  Missionary  Societies  existed,  there  was  a 
bond  of  brotherhood  between  America  and  us,  which  no  national 
prejudice,  or  political  intrigue,  could  break." 

The  Hon.  gentlemen  concluded  by  proposing  the  following  reso- 
lution : — "  That  this  meeting  view  with  feelings  of  lively  interest 
the  efforts  made  by  American  philanthropists,  to  correct  the  public 
opinion  and  practice  with  regard  to  the  use  of  distilled  spirits  as  a 
beverage." 

"The  Bishop  of  Chester  seconded  the  motion.  He  thought 
the  term  philanthropists  was  well  applied  to  the  resolution.  Those 
were  the  greatest  philanthropists  who  attempted  to  remove  the 
greatest  evils,  and  to  introduce  the  greatest  benefits  ;  but  they  be- 
came still  greater  philanthropists  when  they  did  this  by  means  of  the 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [262 

boldest  measures  in  llie  face  of  the  greatest  opposition.  This  was 
indeed  a  bold  idea,  but,  like  other  bold  measures,  entered  upon 
with  right  views  and  principles,  it  had  succeeded  as  a  measure  so 
introduced  and  supported  would,  having  been  introduced  on  right 
views  and  principles.  Therefore  he  called  those  philanthropists 
who  were  pursuing  this  course  ;  and  he  rejoiced  with  the  honora- 
ble member  who  had  just  sat  down,  that  England  had  received  this 
benefit  from  America.  It  was  indeed  a  gratifying  thing  for  a  pa- 
rent to  receive  a  present  from  a  distant  child.  America  was  a 
grown-up  child,  it  was  true,  but  she  was  such  a  child  as  England 
would  not  forget,  and  he  trusted  she  would  not  forget  the  <tock 
from  whence  she  sprung.  She  had  returned  a  benefit  which  some 
twenty-five  years  ago  she  received  from  England  :  she  then  re- 
ceived the  noblest  institution  which  he  thought  the  world  had  ever 
seen — the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society.  That  Society 
America  borrowed  from  England,  and  now  the  latter  borrows  the 
Temperance  Society  from  America.  The  Bible  Society  had 
taken  deep  root,  and  flourished  there ;  so  he  trusted  the  Tem- 
perance Society  would  vegetate  and  prosper  here,  so  that  we  might 
find  the  benefit  we  had  received  from  America  was  not  inferior  to 
that  she  had  received  from  us.  This  was  the  true  intercourse 
which  ought  t©  take  place  between  nations.  This  was  the  real 
rivalry  they  should  exercise,  and  thus  promote  good  works ;  and 
he  trusted  those  benefits  would  extend  farther  and  farther,  until 
they  overspread  the  most  distant  nations.  Sweden  and  Prussia 
had  caught  a  flame  which  he  hoped  would  soon  spread  to  other 
countries,  till,  stimulated  by  our  example,  it  reached  the  farthest 
shores  of  Eurgpe,  Asia,  and  Africa." 

P.  Crampton,  Esq  ,  Solicitor-General  for  Ireland,  said,  "  On 
all  occasions  he  felt  it  his  duty,  as  he  did  his  pride,  to  bear  his 
testimony,  however  humble,  and  raise  his  voice,  however  feeble,  in 
support  of  Temperance  Societies,  the  good  and  holy  cause  in  which 
they  were  engaged.  He  did  not  think  it  necessary,  on  this  occa- 
sion, to  enter  into  details  ;  he  felt  convinced  himself,  and  he  trusted 
it  was  the  conviction  of  all  present,  that  in  proportion  to  the  con- 
sumption of  ardent  spirits,  was  the  amount  of  poverty,  wretched- 
ness, crime,  madness,  disease,  and  premature  death  ;  and  to  this 
he  might  add,  would  be  found  obstructions  to  the  reception  and 
promotion  of  evangelical  truth.  He  was  satisfied  that  every  man- 
ufactory for  spirits  was  a  manufactory  of  poison  ;  that  every  spirit 
store  was  a  magazine  of  death  ?  and  that  every  person  who  was 
concerned  in  the  trade  of  making,  or  buying,  or  selling  spirits,  was 
distributor  of  disease  and  death.  It  had  been  proved  to  a  demon- 
stration, that  all  the  natural  evils  to  which  man  was  subject,  were 
far  exceeded  by  those  produced  by  intemperance.  It  was  the  great 
instrument  of  sin  and   misery  ;  the  chief  agent  of  the  enemy  of 


263]  sixth  report.— 1833.  37 

souls  :  but  the  object  of  this  Society  was  to  banish  it ;  to  stay  the 
pestilence ;  and  to  arrest  and  extinguish  the  conflagration  ;  and 
could  any  Christian  man  oppose  it,  or  connive  at  the  existence  of 
this  cause  of  misery  ?  Was  it  not  the  bounden  duty  of  every  man 
who  professed  to  be  the  friend  of  humanity,  morals,  and  religion, 
to  concur  in  this  object  and  assist  in  this  design  ?  He  felt  this 
subject  to  be  great  and  important,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  describe 
it  as  one  of  the  greatest  discoveries  and  blessings  ever  revealed  to 
men ;  and  the  historians  of  after  times  would  do  that  justice  to  its 
progress  which  it  would  deserve." 

The  attention  of  a  great  portion  of  the  world  has  been  aroused 
to  this  subject,  and  multitudes  have  inquired  with  regard  to  ardent 
spirit,  "  Is  it  right  for  me  to  use  it?"  And,  says  a  philanthropic 
European,  "  The  moment  a  man  of  conscience  seriously  asks  the 
question,  Does  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  on  the  whole  do  good,  and  is 
it  right  for  me  to  drink  it  ?  the  work  is  half  done."  The  reasons, 
the  substantial  reasons  are  all  on  one  side.  And  the  great  object 
is,  to  present  those  reasons,  and  lead  all  men,  in  view  of  endless 
being,  to  ask  the  question,  each  one  for  himself,  to  be  decided  as 
God  and  an  enlightened  conscience  shall  direct,  Is  it  right  for  me 
to  drink  ardent  spirit  ?  Two  millions  in  our  country,  and  multi- 
tudes in  other  countries,  who  have  examined  this  subject,  have 
answered,  No.  A  million  have  united  in  Temperance  Societies, 
and  pledged  themselves  not  to  use  it,  or  furnish  it,  and  in  all  suita- 
ble ways  to  discountenance  the  use  of  it,  throughout  the  community. 
The  number  of  these  societies  in  the  United  States  exceeds  five 
thousand,  and  more  than  twenty  of  them  are  State  societies,  at  the 
head  of  which,  in  many  cases  are  the  first  men  in  the  community. 
More  than  two  thousand  men  have  ceased  to  make  it,  and  more 
than  six  thousand  have  ceased  to  sell  it.  They  do  not  believe  it  to 
be  right,  however  common,  or  however  much  money  they  might 
make  by  it,  to  prosecute  an  employment  so  manifestly  cursed  of 
God,  and  so  notoriously  destructive  to  the  best  interests  of  men. 
Seven  hundred  vessels  now  float  on  the  ocean,  in  which  it  is  not 
used  ;  and  though  they  visit  every  clime  and  at  all  seasons  of  the 
year,  make  the  longest  and  most  difficult  voyages,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  circumnavigate  the  globe,  the  men  are  uniformly  better, 
and  in  all  respects,  than  when  they  used  it.  Seventy-five  out  of 
ninety-seven  vessels  from  New  Bedford  sail  without  ardent  spirit. 
It  has  become  common  ;  and  so  great  is  the  increase  of  safety  to 
the  property  in  such  cases,  that  Insurance  Companies  find  it  for 
their  interest  to  insure  those  vessels  that  carry  no  spirituous  liquors 
at  a  less  premium  than  others. 

And  says  the  English  Temperance  Magazine  and  Review,  "  We 
did  hope  that  our  country  might  be  the  foremost  to  set  an  exam- 
ple to  the  world  in  this  respect.     But  we  have  been  disappointed, 
4  19* 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [264 

America,  that  country  which  has  just  sprung  into  existence,  and 
which  those  who  have  so  industriously  flattered  our  self-love,  have 
done  all  in  their  power  to  teach  us  to  despise,  has  stepped  before 
us.  Not  only  are  ships,  which  are  sailed  on  Temperance  princi- 
ples, in  demand  by  merchants,  but  the  rate  of  insurance  has  been 
so  much  lowered  on  them  that  a  merchant  in  Liverpool  sailing  a 
vessel  to  New  York,  would  save  a  considerable  sum  by  effecting; 
the  insurance  in  New  York  rather  than  in  Liverpool ;  so  that  the 
road  of  virtue  is  the  way  to  wealth  as  well  as  to  happiness ;  and 
however  grating  it  may  be  to  our  feelings,  we  must  follow  in  the 
wake  of  America." 

So  with  regard  to  manufacturing  establishments,  and  other  kinds 
of  property.  Many  officers  of  Insurance  Companies  and  guardians 
of  public  interests  in  various  departments,  when  men  make  appli- 
cation, now  ask  the  question  which  Jefferson  said  he  would  ask 
with  regard  to  candidates  for  public  office.  "  Do  they  drink  ardent 
spirit?"  If  they  do,  however  moderately,  they  find  it  needful  to 
beware.  A  master  of  a  vessel,  or  the  owner  of  that,  or  other 
property,  is  not  able  perhaps  to  effect  an  insurance  according  to 
his  mind.  There  seems  to  be  an  unaccountable  indifference,  or 
an  egregious  excess  of  caution  on  the  part  of  the  officers  and  agents 
of  Insurance  Companies.  He  wonders  what  is  the  reason. 
But  were  his  olfactory  nerves  unscathed,  or  a  mirror  placed  before 
him,  he  would  be  at  no  loss  for  the  reason.  It  is  with  vessels 
often,  as  with  stages,  and  steam  boats.  When  the  fire  and  the 
tempest  rage  within,  they  are  wrecked,  overturned  or  exploded. 
The  drinking  driver,  engineer,  captain,  sailor,  and  workman  cause 
more  waste  of  property,  and  more  loss  of  life,  than  all  the  elements 
of  providence.  It  is  a  tornado  within  that  does  the  mischief;  and 
it  needs  no  eagle  eye  to  see  the  character,  or  the  guilt  of  those 
who  are  instrumental  in  raising  it ;  and  no  spirit  of  prophecy  to  fore- 
tell that  the  time  is  at  hand  when  no  provident  man  will  have  the 
cause  of  it,  on  board  his  vessel.  More  than  five  thousand  drunk- 
ards have  also  ceased  to  use  intoxicating  drinks ;  and  are,  as 
every  drunkard  who  adopts  and  pursues  this  course  will  be — sober 
men. 

There  is  no  tendency  in  the  government  of  God  to  make  drunk- 
ards ;  and  it  is  not  possible  for  any  person  who  lives  under  it  to 
become  one,  except  through  his  own  guilty  instrumentality,  or  that 
of  others.  And  even  if  a  man  has  become  a  drunkard,  and  sunk 
to  the  lowest  depths  of  degradation,  let  that  man  cease,  by  his  own 
wickedness,  to  perpetuate  that  degradation,  and  the  providence  of 
God  will  make  him  sober,  and  will  infallibly  keep  him  sober,  to 
ihe  day  of  his  death,  on  the  simple  condition,  which  we  must  think 
is  most  reasonable,  that  he  shall  just  refrain  from  making  himself, 
by  his  own  voluntary  wickedness,  a  drunkard.     And  were  there 


265]  SIXTH   REPORT.— 1833.  3S» 

no  man  to  exert  an  influence  for  making  drunkards  in  opposition 
to  that  of  God,  there  never  would  be  one.  Let  all  men  make  it 
their  object  to  imitate  him,  and  drunkenness  will  cease  from 
under  heaven.  Wherever  they  do  this,  it  does  cease.  And  the 
grand  instrumentality  of  leading  drunkards  to  become  sober  men, 
is  example  ;  united,  consistent,  and  persevering  example.  This 
is  indeed  the  grand  engine  for  the  moral  renovation  of  the  world  5 
and  never  has  its  deep  and  all-pervading  power  been  more  con- 
spicuously manifested  than  in  the  entire  reformation  of  more  than 
five  thousand  drunkards,  within  five  years.  From  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  towns  in  Maine,  returns  are  made  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  drunkards,  who  are  now  sober  men.  An  equal  number 
in  proportion  to  the  population  throughout  the  State,  would  make 
more  than  a  thousand  ;  and  throughout  the  United  States,  more 
than  thirty  thousand.  Drunkards  were  lately  thought  by  all,  and 
are  by  many  thought  now,  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  any  moral 
influence.  But  let  all  sober  men  set  an  example,  united,  public 
and  persevering,  which  drunkards  may  safely  follow,  and  the 
world  will  be  convinced  of  its  mistake  and  even  drunkards  by 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  not  only  become  sober,  but  be  led 
to  glorify  God. 

Among  the  multitude  of  cases,  known  to  the  Committee,  they 
will  mention  only  three.  One  was  a  man  of  respectable  employ- 
ment, character  and  property,  with  an  amiable  and  intelligent  wife, 
and  a  number  of  lovely  children.  He  became  a  drunkard,  lost  his 
property,  and  sunk  to  the  lowest  depths  of  inebriety  and  debase- 
ment. The  family  experienced  all  the  heart-breaking  evils  com- 
mon in  such  cases;  and  some  that  were  very  peculiar.  For  more 
than  ten  years,  they  struggled  hard  amidst  an  almost  unheard  of 
complication  of  trials,  till  the  case  appeared  to  be  hopeless;  when 
after  many  fruitless  removes  from  place  to  place,  and  changes  of 
many  kinds,  they  removed  about  thirty  miles  into  a  neighbourhood, 
in  which  no  individual  sold  ardent  spirit,  and  no  one  drank  iL 
And  when  this  solitary  drunkard  looked  around  and  saw  not  an 
individual,  who  would  touch  the  drunkard's  poison,  except  himself, 
and  all  were  far  happier  than  he,  he  said,  what  thousands  of  drunk- 
ards under  similar  circumstances  would  say,  "If  other  people  can 
do  without,  I  can."  He  had  no  idea  of  being  singular  and  sustain- 
ing all  the  odium  of  drunkard  making,  and  drunkenness  alone. 
He  resolved  to  be  like  other  people.  And  when  our  Secretaiy 
saw  him,  he  had  taken  nothing  that  intoxicates  for  three  years ; 
was  a  respectable  man,  and  his  family  were  in  comfortable  circum- 
stances. "  That  "  said  a  gentleman  of  his  acquaintance,  "  is  one 
of  the  trophies  of  the  Temperance  Reformation.  For  ten  years 
not  a  woman  in  the  United  States  perhaps  suffered  more  than  that 
woman ;  but  for  three  years,  her  house  has  been  the  abode  of 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [266 

peace  and  joy."  But,  says  one,  "  I  don't  believe  a  drunkard 
was  ever  reformed.  I  have  seen  such  cases,  where  they  have 
broken  off  for  a  time,  but  they  have  all  gone  back,  and  have  gene- 
rally become  worse  than  before."  That  many  who  for  a  time 
break  off,  go  back,  there  is  no  doubt.  But  why  do  they  go  back  ? 
Because  some  sober  men  set  them  the  example  of  using  that  which 
carries  them  back  ;  and  some  perhaps  urge  them  to  use  it,  or  for 
a  mere  pittance  of  worldly  gain,  will  sell  it  to  them,  and  thus  en- 
tice them  to  do,  what  no  drunkard  can  do  and  reform,  drink  the 
drunkard's  poison.  Such  men  are  their  destroyers.  Every 
drunkard  will  live  and  die  a  sober  man,  if  he  drinks  nothing  that 
intoxicates;  but,  if  he  uses  distilled,  or  fermented  liquors,  he  must 
expect  to  die  a  drunkard.  And  those  who  by  example  or  busi- 
ness are  accessory  to  his  use  of  it,  are  sharers  in  his  guilt ;  and 
will  unless  they  repent  be  partakers  in  his  plagues.  But  the  idea 
that  drunkards  in  great  numbers  will  not  be  radically  and  perma- 
nently reformed,  if  sober  men  will  set  them  an  example,  which 
they  may  safely  follow,  is  entirely  without  foundation,  and  contrary 
to  conclusive  evidence. 

A  gentleman  in  one  of  our  cities  accosted  our  Secretary,  as  he 
was  walking  in  the  streets,  and  said,  "  There  is  one  thing,  which, 
as  you  go  about  the  country,  and  speak  on  the  subject  of  Tempe- 
rance, 1  wish  you  to  impress  particularly  on  the  minds  of  sober 
men.  They  must  set  an  example,  which  drunkards  may  safely 
follow;  and  if  they  will  do  that,  and  not  avoid  the  drunkard,  or 
pass  him  by  and  neglect  him,  but  go  to  him,  and  treat  him  kindly, 
and  say,  Come  now,  though  you  are  wretched,  and  your  family  are 
wretched,  and  while  you  continue  your  present  course  you  never 
can  be  any  better,  yet  you  are  not  lost.  Break  off  the  use  of  spirit, 
and  you  will  find  many  that  are  ready  to  help  you.  They  often 
think  they  are  lost,  and  that  if  they  should  reform  nobody  would  ever 
care  for  them,  and  they  never  could  be  any  thing.  I  know  how 
they  feel,  T  have  had  full  experience.  And  it  will  affect  them  ex- 
ceedingly, to  find  that  they  have  friends,  and  that  people  feel  kind 
toward  them,  and  wish  to  help  them.  There  is  another  thing. 
I  want  to  have  it  impressed  on  their  minds,  that  they  may  break 
off  entirely,  and  at  once,  and  it  will  not  kill  them.  They  often 
think  that  should  they  break  off  suddenly  it  will  kill  them  and  the 
devil  tries  to  have  them  think  so,  and  it  is  the  doctrine  of  some 
people.  But  without  the  least  danger  they  may  break  off  at  once. 
And  there  is  no  other  way.  If  sober  men  will  all  set  them  the  ex- 
ample, treat  them  kindly,  and  as  they  break  off  help  them  into 
business,  it  will  be  the  salvation  of  thousands.  I  hope  sir,  you 
will  bear  this  in  mind.  The  Lord  bless  you,  in  your  great  and 
good  work.  Good  bye."  To  be  thus  accosted  by  a  stranger 
awakened  a  desire  to  know  who  and  what  he  was.     Meeting  a 


267]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  41 

merchant,  the   Secretary  made  the   inquiry.     "  Oh,"   (said    the, 

merchant,)  "his  name  is .     He  used  to  be  picked  up  in  the 

street  here,  and   carried  home  a  number  of  times   in   the  week, 

drunk.     He  is  now  the  Cashier  of Bank,  a  very  respectable 

and  most,  excellent  man."  His  employment  is  of  course  sufficient 
evidence  of  his  entire  reformation.  And  of  the  correctness  of  his 
views  on  this  subject  we  have  a  most  striking  exhibition  in  the  fol- 
lowing facts. 

As  our  Secretary  was  passing  in  the  public  stage  from  Baltimore 
to  Washington,  a  genteel  looking  stranger  accosted  him,  saying, 
"  How  does  the  Temperance  cause  prosper  now?  "  "It  goes  well,", 
said  the  Secretary,  "  where  they  do  the  needful  work  ;  but  it  will 
not  go  in  any  place  without  labor."  "  It  is  making  great  progress,", 
said  the  stranger,  "  in  our  part  of  the  country.  It  is  most  sur- 
prizing what  it  is  doing.  It  is  saving  many,  even  of  the  drunkards. 
There  was  a  case  of  a  man  in  my  employment  that  has  inter- 
ested me  very  much.  He  is  a  mechanic,  of  the  first  order  ;  was 
married  into  a  respectable  family,  and  was  once  a  man  of  pro- 
perty. But  he  lost  it,  and  became  a  drunkard.  He  had  a  large 
family  of  sons  and  daughters.  His  wife  struggled  long  and  hard 
to  support  them,  and  sustain  the  family.  But  it  was  too  much  ; 
she  sunk  under  it.  For  more  than  a  year  she  had  been  confined 
to  her  room,  the  greater  part  of  the  time  to  her  bed  ;  and  was 
evidently  sinking  to  the  grave.  Not  un frequently  they  were  en- 
tirely destitute  of  provision  ;  and  what  was  earned  by  the  father 
and  sons  was  expended  for  liquor ;  till  they  sunk  so  low  that  no- 
body would  trust  them.  His  boys  seemed  to  be  stupid,  and  to 
have  in  a  measure  lost  their  minds  by  dissipation.  They  would 
undertake  a  job  of  work  as  quick  for  a  shilling,  as  they  would  foi 
a  dollar.  They  seemed  hardly  to  know  the  difference,  and  when 
they  got  it,  they  would  spend  a  dollar  for  spirit,  as  quick  as  a  shil- 
ling. They  sometimes  worked  in  the  factory ;  but  they  were  so 
stupid,  that  the  overseer  would  not  trust  them  to  mend  a  band  ot 
oil  a  gudgeon,  or  do  any  such  thing.  You  could  put  no  confidence 
in  them.  And  the  mother  being  sick  and  no  one  to  take  care  of 
any  thing,  they  were  most  wretched — and  seemed  to  have  no  re- 
solution, or  desire  to  do  any  thing,  except  just  to  get  the  means  of 
intoxication.  I  met  the  doctor  one  day,  as  he  came  from  the 
house,  and  I  asked  him,  '  What  is  the  matter  of  that  woman  ? '  and 
he  said,  '  Nothing.  She  has  no  disease  upon  her.  It  is  trouble, 
nothing  but  trouble,  and  their  destitute  wretched  condition.  And 
that  will  sink  her  to  the  grave,  if  she  cannot  be  relieved.'  So  I 
thought  of  it,  and  resolved  that  I  would  make  one  more  effort  to 
save  them.  I  knew  that  in  my  business  there  was  hardly  a  man 
in  the  country  that  would  do  better  than  he,  if  he  would  only  keep 
sober.  One  day  I  went  to  him,  when  he  was  sober  ;  and  I  told 
4* 


42  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [268 

him,  You  know  that  you  are  wretched,  and  your  family  are 
wretched.  Your  wife  is  sick,  and  will  no  doubt  die  if  she  cannot 
get  relief.  And  the  great  cause  is  trouble.  And  you  never  can 
be  in  any  better  condition  unless  you  break  off  entirely  the  use  of 
spirit.  If  you  will  do  that,  I  will  take  you  and  your  boys  into  my 
employ.  I  will  give  you  so  much  and  pay  you  every  week,  and 
in  such  a  time  I  will  raise  your  wages.  You  may  yet  be  a  re- 
spectable man,  and  support  your  family  well,  and  be  comfortable. 
But  it  is  all  on  the  condition  that  you  do  not  drink  intoxicating 
liquor.  If  you  do,  I  will  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  you  ;  you 
know  I  don't  have  it  in  my  establishment.  The  man  thought  of  it 
and  he  seemed  to  be  affected.  I  treated  him  very  kindly.  He 
finally  said  he  would  do  it ;  and  came  to  the  resolution  that  he 
would  break  off  that  very  day.  The  next  day  he  went  to  work, 
and  did  very  well  about  a  month.  His  boys  too  began  to  im- 
prove ;  they  treated  him  more  respectfully,  and  were  more"  kind 
to  one  another.  But  at  the  close  of  the  month  he  came  to  me 
and  said  he  could  not  get  along ;  his  creditors  were  calling  upoa 
him  every  day,  and  he  could  not  pay  them  and  support  bis  fam- 
ily. It  was  a  gone  case  with  him,  and  he  had  as  good  give  up 
first  as  last.  His  creditors,  you  see,  whom  he  owed  for  spirit,  and 
who  before  could  not  get  their  pay,  as  he  had  gone  to  work  and 
was  earning  something,  thought  that  now  was  their  time  to  get 
their  money,  and  they  were  constantly  calling  upon  him.  I  told 
him,  Never  mind,  keep  to  work,  you  are  doing  well.  I  will  raise 
your  wages.  And  when  your  creditors  call,  send  them  to  me  ;  I 
will  take  care  of  them.  And  he  again  went  to  work.  They  soon 
began  to  have  things  more  comfortable  in  their  family,  the  mother 
began  to  get  better  ;  and  the  boys  did  improve  most  wonderfully. 
They  began  to  feel  that  they  had  some  character,  and  being  better 
fed,  and  clothed,  and  treated  with  attention,  it  had  a  wonderful 
effect  upon  them.  The  family  were  soon  clad  so  as  to  attend 
public  worship  ;  the  children  were  fitted  out  to  the  sabbath  schools, 
and  the  younger  ones  sent  to  school  during  the  week.  1  went  to 
the  house  last  autumn  and  found  it  well  stored  with  provisions  ; 
they  had  a  large  pile  of  wood,  enough  to  last  through  the  winter  ; 
the  mother  was  about  the  house  well,  and  you  can't  think  what  a 
change  there  was  in  the  appearance  of  things.  The  father  and 
mother,  and  one  of  the  sons  have  become  hopefully  pious,  and  are 
members  of  the  Church.  One  of  the  sons  a  few  days  ago  bought 
his  time  of  his  father,  till  he  is  twenty -one,  and  gave  him  three  bund  red 
and  fifty  dollars.  And  if  he  continues  as  he  is  now  doing,  he  will 
earn  the  money,  support  himself,  and  gain  several  hundred  dollars 
beside.  And  these  boys,  which  were  so  stupid  that  they  could 
hardly  do  any  thing,  are  now  among  the  most  active,  ingenious  and 
enterprising  youth  I  ever  saw  ;  they  can  do  almost  any  tiling.     1 


269  J  sixth  report. — 1833.  43 

have  a  case  of  a  few  little  things  in  my  pocket,  which  they  have 
manufactured.  See  there,"  (showing  a  number  of  implements, 
which  they  had  wrought  of  the  most  beautiful  proportions,  and  ex- 
quisite workmanship)  "those  are  wholly  of  their  own  manufacture. 
And  I  have  paid  their  father  already,  for  his  labor  and  theirs,  the 
present  year,  between  thirteen  and  fourteen  hundred  dollars.  Oh, 
this  Temperance  Reformation  is  one  of  the  noblest  things  in  the 
world."  Our  Secretary,  on  hearing  this,  could  not  but  advert  to 
the  declarations  of  the  Cashier  referred  to — "  Treat  them  kindly, 
and  tell  them  to  break  oft'  now  entirely  and  we  will  help  you.  Oh  ! 
it  will  be  like  life  from  the  dead  to  them.  And  they  may  break 
off  at  once,  it  will  not  kill  them.  There  is  no  other  way."  All 
experience  testifies,  and  the  Committee,  had  they  the  power,  would 
echo  the  declaration  round  the  globe,  "  There  is  no  other  way." 
And  though  there  be  other  ways  that  seem  right  to  some  men,  the 
end  thereof  are  the  ways  of  death.  That  man,  and  thousands  of 
others  like  him,  through  grace  are  now  safe,  on  one  condition,  viz. 
that  they  continue,  not  to  take  any  intoxicating  drink.  But  if  they 
drink  any  quantity  of  any  thing  that  intoxicates,  they  may  expect 
to  die  drunkards.  And  the  use  of  these  drinks  by  sober  men,  will 
make  multitudes  of  them  drunkards,  and  roll  the  burning,  deso- 
lating curse  over  future  generations.  It  is  to  prevent  this,  to  save 
all  that  can  be  saved  of  the  drunkards,  and  pour  the  tide  of  life, 
light  and  joy,  over  their  families ;  and  to  prevent  all  youth,  and 
sober  men,  from  becoming  drunkards,  or  engulphing  any  more 
families  in  the  fathomless  abyss  of  the  drunkard's  woes,  that  the 
Committee  began,  have  prosecuted,  and  intend  perseveringly  to 
continue  their  arduous  labors.  It  is  for  the  purpose  of  saving 
unborn  millions,  from  becoming,  through  their  own  guilty  instru- 
mentality, and  that  of  others,  intemperate  ;  and  entailing  its  curses 
to  endless  ages.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that  they  labor,  by  light  and 
love,  to  convince  the  understanding  and  impress  the  hearts  of  all, 
that  to  drink  ardent  spirit,  or  to  furnish  it  as  a  drink  for  others,  ii» 
sin.  And  it  having  been  decided,  by  a  court  from  which  there  is 
no  appeal,  that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  they  would  continue 
earnestly  to  beseech  all  men,  for  their  own  sakes,  and  especially 
for  the  sake  of  others,  entirely  and  forever  to  renounce  it.  And 
the  immutable  and  eternal  principles  of  the  divine  government,  the 
explicit,  unerring  declarations  of  the  divine  word,  and  the  mighty 
and  august  developments  of  divine  providence,  all  ensure  ultimate, 
universal,  and  triumphant  success. 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [270 

LAWS 

WHICH    AUTHORISE    THE   TRAFFIC    IN    ARDENT    SPIRIT   AS    A 

DRINK,  MORALLY  WRONG. 


The  American  Temperance  Society,  at  the  commencement, 
took  the  ground  that  to  drink  ardent  spirit  is  morally  wrong ;  and 
in  their  Reports  they  have  exhibited  the  reasons  which  demon- 
strate its  truth.  Millions  in  this  country  have  embraced  this  truth, 
and  are  now  acting  under  its  influence.  Its  influence  has  also 
been  extended  to  other  countries,  and  great  numbers  in  foreign 
lands  are  imitating  our  example. 

The  next  position  taken  by  the  Society,  was,  that  it  is  wicked  to 
make  ardent  spirit,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others.  This 
too  they  accompanied  by  legitimate  and  abundant  proof;  and  it  has 
been  embraced  ;  as  whole  counties  in  which  it  is  now  a  violation 
even  of  human  law  to  sell  it,  and  of  a  thousand  churches  in  which 
there  is  not  a  man  who  prosecutes  the  business,  and  thousands  of 
other  churches  that  are  struggling  to  throw  off  the  mighty  incubus, 
abundantly  testify.  It  is  shown  also  by  the  existence  of  more 
than  six  thousand  Temperance  Societies,  embracing  more  than  a 
million  of  members  ;  pledged  to  abstain  from  the  drinking  of  ardent 
spirit,  and  from  the  traffic  in  it,  and  also  to  use  all  suitable  means 
to  cause  this  to  become  universal.  The  means  by  which  such  a 
result  may  be  expected,  is  the  universal  conviction  that  the  drinking 
of  ardent  spirit,  or  the  furnishing  it  to  be  drunk  by  others,  is  sin  ; 
an  offence  against  God,  and  injurious  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  in- 
terests of  men.  Whatever  tends  to  produce  this  conviction,  tends 
to  promote  the  Temperance  Reformation  ;  and  whatever  tends  to 
prevent  the  one,  tends  to  hinder  the  other.  Perhaps  nothing  now 
stands  more  in  the  way  of  producing  this  conviction,  and  causing  it 
to  become  universal,  than  the  fact,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit 
is  authorised  by  law  ;  and  thus  receives  the  sanction  and  support 
of  legislation.  This  is  a  public  testimony  to  the  world  that  the 
sale  of  ardent  spirit,  and  of  course  the  drinking  of  it,  are  right  ;  a 
fundamental  and  fatal  error,  destructive  in  its  effects  to  the  life  that 
now  is,  and  to  that  which  is  to  come.  The  next  thing  to  be  ac- 
complished therefore,  is,  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  information 
and  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influence,  to  produce  throughout 
the  community,  the  conviction,  that  the  laws  which  authorise  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  are 
morally  wrong  ;  opposed  in  their  influence  to  the  laws  of  God ; 
and  that  the  public  good,  instead  of  requiring  tnat  some  men  should 
sell  ardent  spirit,  utterly  forbids  that  this  should  be  done  by  any ; 


21 1 J 


SIXTH   REPORT. — 1833.  45 


and  that  no  men  or  body  of  men  who  understand,  or  have  the 
means  of  understanding  this  subject,  can  be  instrumental  in  making 
such  laws  without  the  commission  of  sin.  And  as  such  laws  are 
morally  wrong,  they  never  can  be  politically  right,  or  beneficial,  or 
expedient.  While  Jehovah  lives,  righteousness,  and  that  alone  will 
exalt  a  nation;  sin  in  any  form,  and  especially  if  sanctioned  by  law, 
will  be  a  reproach,  and  a  nuisance  to  any  people.  That  this  is 
plainly  and  strongly  the  case  with  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  that 
the  laws  which  authorise  it  are  morally  wrong,  and  in  their  influ- 
ence opposed  to  the  will  of  God,  is  manifest  from  the  following 
considerations,  viz  : 

I.  Ardent  spirit  is  a  poison,  and  the  drinking  of  it  is  not  needful 
or  beneficial  to  men.  Even  the  moderate  use  of  it  is  positively 
hurtful ;  and  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  health,  and  of  life.  Of 
course,  no  man  has  a  natural  right  to  furnish  it,  or  to  wish  for 
laws  which  shall  authorise  him  to  do  it.  And  no  man  acquainted 
with  the  subject  can  be  instrumental  in  making  laws  which  shall 
authorise  others  to  do  it,  even  in  a  savage  state,  without  guilt.  Such 
laws  would  legalize  sin,  and  violate  the  law  of  God. 

II.  No  man  acquires  a  right  to  make  such  laws  by  entering  into 
society  ;  and  no  body  of  men  by  the  establishment  of  civil  govern- 
ment. The  only  legitimate  object  of  government  is  to  protect, 
and  to  benefit  the  community.  It  has  no  right,  any  more  than  in- 
dividuals, to  injure  that  community  :  or  to  pass  laws  which  autho- 
rise others  to  do  it  And  if  it  does,  it  violates  the  divine  will ;  and 
the  individuals  who  compose  it,  will,  at  the  divine  tribunal,  and 
cught  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  to  be  held  responsible  for  the 
effects.  The  personal  responsibility  of  each  individual  for  the  in- 
fluence which  he  exerts,  is  in  no  case  merged  in  the  general  mass  ; 
or  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  the  responsibility  of  the  body.  Each 
one  is  bound  by  obligations  which  he  can  never  throw  off,  in  what- 
ever situation  or  capacity  he  may  act,  to  honor  God,  and  do  the 
greatest  good  of  which  he  is  capable  to  mankind.  In  no  case  has 
he  a  right  to  injure  others  or  be  instrumental  in  making  laws  which 
will  authorise  them  to  do  it.  It  would  be  having  a  right  to  do 
wrong,  which  carries  on  its  face  evidence  of  falsehood. 

III.  The  authorising  of  men  by  law  to  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as 
a  drink,  is  inconsistent  with  the  temperance  of  the  community. 
Temperance  is  the  moderate  and  proper  use  of  things  beneficial, 
and  it  is  abstinence  from  things  hurtful.  Ardent  spirit  being  one 
of  the  hurtful  things,  temperance  with  regard  to  this,  is  abstinence, 
perpetual,  entire,  universal  abstinence.  But  by  authorizing  men  to 
sell  it,  and  professing  to  do  this  for  the  public  good,  legislators  de- 
clare that  to  buy  and  drink  it  is  right,  and  useful.  This  is  not 
only  false,  but  promotes  intemperance.  To  use  a  thing  which  is  in 
its  nature  hurtful  is  intemperance,  no  less  really  than  to  use  a  ben- 

20 


46  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [272 

eficial  thing  to  excess  ;  and  is  often  more  injurious ;  especially 
when  the  use  of  it,  as  in  the  case  of  ardent  spirit,  even  in  small 
quantities,  tends  to  a  constant  increase.  To  teach  the  doctrine 
then  by  legislation,  that  it  is  right  to  drink  it,  in  any  quantity,  is  to 
promote  intemperance  ;  to  inculcate  a  doctrine  which  tends  to 
form  intemperate  appetites,  and  which  lies  at  the  foundation  of  a 
great  portion  of  all  the  drunkenness  in  the  world.  It  does  im- 
mense injury  in  another  way,  by  increasing  the  difficulty  of  con- 
vincing men  that  to  drink  ardent  spirit,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk 
by  others,  is  sin.  Many  see  no  difference  between  what  is  legal, 
and  what  is  right.  With  them,  the  standard  of  right  and  wrong  is 
human  law.  If  a  thing  is  legal  and  they  wish  to  do  it  they  take  it 
for  granted  that  it  is  right.  Show  that  it  dishonors  God,  and  de- 
stroys men,  and  is  therefore  wrong,  they  meet  you  with  the  fact 
that  it  is  legal,  and  therefore  conclude  that  it  is  right ;  and  thus  they 
ward  off  the  conviction,  which  they  would  otherwise  feel,  of  its 
enormous  wickedness  and  guilt.  They  tell  you  that  it  is  allowed 
by  law  ;  that  they  have  gotten  a  license  and  paid  for  it;  that  this  is 
a  land  of  liberty ;  and  begin  to  clamor  about  their  rights  to  increase 
the  taxes,  demoralize  the  character,  destroy  the  health,  shorten  the 
lives,  and  ruin  the  souls  of  men  ;  or  else,  which  is  more  common, 
contend  in  opposition  to  facts  that  their  business  does  not  do  this. 
"  If  it  did,"  say  they,  "  legislators  would  not  license  it.  They 
know  what  is  right,  and  as  they  have  made  laws,  authorizing  it, 
and  as  they  expressly  say,  for  the  public  good,  it  is  right,  legally, 
and  morally  right  for  us  to  continue  to  sell  it, — all  its  consequences," 
which  they  acknowledge  are  tremendous,  "and  all  that  temperance 
people  say  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  This,  were  legisla- 
tors right  in  authorising  the  traffic,  would  be  true  ;  and  it  would 
present  a  barrier  to  the  triumph  of  Temperance,  which  would  be 
absolutely  and  forever  impregnable  ;  and  it  would  roll  the  burning 
current  of  desolation  and  death  over  man  to  all  future  generations. 
And  the  fact  that  legislators,  as  well  as  rum-sellers  and  rum  drink- 
ers act  as  if  it  were  right,  and  as  if  the  public  good  required  that 
some  men  should  continue  the  traffic,  presents  one  of  the  greatest 
obstacles  to  the  progress  of  the  Temperance  Reform.  It  prevents 
in  the  minds  of  thousands,  the  conviction  of  the  demoralizing  char- 
acter, the  deadly  effects,  the  enormous  injustice,  the  gross  oppres- 
sion, the  high-handed  immorality,  and  the  tremendous  guilt  of  that 
desolating  traffic.  Were  it  not  for  the  ramparts  which  legislation 
has  thrown  around  it,  the  pressure  of  public  indignation,  as  light 
and  virtue  increase,  and  facts  are  developed,  would  sweep  it  away ; 
or  sink  it  into  the  abyss  from  which  its  fires,  smoke,  and  stench, 
would  no  more  escape  to  annoy  and  desolate  the  earth. 

IV.  Laws  which  authorise  the  licensing  of  men  to  traffic  in 
ardent  spirit,  violate  the  first  principles  of  political  economy,  and 
are  highly  injurious  to  the  wealth  of  a  nation. 


273]  sixth  report. — 1833.  47 

The  wealth  of  a  nation  consists  of  the  wealth  of  all  the  individu- 
als that  compose  it.  The  sources  of  wealth  are  labor,  land,  and 
capital.  The  last  is  indeed  the  product  of  the  two  former  ;  but  as 
it  may  be  used  to  increase  their  value,  it  is  considered  by  writers 
on  political  economy,  as  one  of  the  original  sources  of  national 
wealth.  Whatever  lessens  either  of  these,  or  their  productiveness 
when  employed  upon  each  other,  lessens  the  wealth  of  the  coun- 
try. Capital  maybe  employed  in  two  ways;  either  to  produce 
new  capital,  or  merely  to  afford  gratification,  and  in  the  production 
of  that  gratification  be  consumed,  without  replacing  its  value.  The 
first  may  be  called  capital,  and  the  last  expenditure.  These  will 
of  course  bear  inverse  proportions  to  each  other.  If  the  first  be 
large,  the  last  must  be  small,  and  vice  versa.  Without  any  change 
of  the  amount  of  wealth,  capital  will  be  increased  by  the  lessening 
of  expenditure,  and  lessened  by  the  increase  of  expenditure.  Al- 
though the  manner  of  dividing  makes  no  difference  with  the  pres- 
ent amount  of  national  wealth,  it  makes  a  great  difference  with  the 
future  amount ;  as  it  alters  materially  the  sources  of  producing  it, 
the  means  of  an  equal,  or  increased  reproduction. 

For  instance,  a  man  fond  of  noise  and  excited  agreeably  by  the 
hearing  of  it,  pays  a  dollar  for  gunpowder,  and  touches  fire  to  it. 
He  occasions  an  entire  loss  of  that  amount  of  property.  Although 
the  powder  maker  and  the  merchant,  may  both  have  received  their 
pay,  if  it  has  not  benefited  the  man,  to  hint  it  has  been  a  total  loss ; 
and  if  the  sale  of  it  was  no  more  profitable  than  would  have  been 
the  sale  of  some  useful  article,  it  has  been  an  entire  loss  to  the 
community.  And  if  by  the  explosion  the  man  is  burnt,  partially 
loses  his  reason,  is  taken  off  for  a  time  from  business,  and  confined 
by  sickness  to  his  bed,  must  have  nurses,  physicians,  &ic.  the  loss 
is  still  increased.  And  if  he  never  recovers  fully  his  health,  or 
reason,  suffers  in  his  social  affections  and  moral  sensibility,  becomes 
less  faithful  in  the  education  of  his  children,  and  they  are  more  ex- 
posed to  temptation  and  ruin,  and  he  is  never  again  as  able  or 
willing  to  be  habitually  employed  in  productive  labor,  the  nation 
loses  equal  to  the  amount  of  all  these  put  together.  And  if  his  ex- 
ample leads  other  men  to  spend,  and  to  suffer  in  the  same  way, 
the  loss  is  still  farther  increased  ;  and  so  on,  through  all  its  effects. 

And  even  though  the  powder  maker  and  the  merchant  have 
made  enormous  profit,  this  does  not  prevent  the  loss  to  the  com- 
munity ;  any  more  than  the  enormous  profit  of  lottery  gamblers,  or 
counterfeiters  of  the  public  coin,  prevents  loss  to  the  community. 
Nor  does  it  meet  the  case,  to  say  that  the  property  only  changes 
hands.  This  is  not  true.  The  man  who  sold  the  powder  made  a 
profit  of  only  a  part  even  of  the  money  which  the  other  man  paid 
for  it ;  while  he  lost  not  rmTy  the  whole,  but  vastly  more.  The 
wnole  oi  the  original  cot  was  only  a  s.nall  nan  of  the  loss  to  the 


48  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [274 

buyer,  and  to  the  nation.  The  merchant  gained  nothing  of  the 
time,  and  other  numerous  expences,  which  the  buyer  lost ;  nor 
does  he  in  any  way  remunerate  the  community  for  that  loss. 

Suppose  that  man,  instead  of  buying  the  powder,  had  bought  a 
pair  of  shoes ;  and  that  the  tanner  and  the  shoemaker  had  gained 
in  this  case,  what  the  powder-maker  and  the  merchant  gained  in 
the  other  ;  and  that  by  the  use  of  the  shoes,  though  they  were 
finally  worn  out,  the  man  gained  twice  as  much  as  he  gave  for 
them  ;  without  any  loss  of  health,  or  reason,  social  affection,  or 
moral  susceptibility ;  and  without  any  of  the  consequent  evils. 
Who  cannot  see  that  it  would  have  increased  his  wealth,  and  that  of 
the  nation,  without  injury  to  any,  and  have  promoted  the  benefit 
of  all. 

This  illustrates  the  principle  with  regard  to  ardent  spirit.  A  man 
buys  a  quantity  of  it,  and  drinks  it;  when  he  would  be,  as  is  the 
case  with  every  man,  in  all  respects  better  without  it.  It  is  to  him 
an  entire  loss.  The  merchant  may  have  made  a  profit  of  one 
quarter  of  the  cost,  but  the  buyer  loses  the  whole  ;  and  he  loses 
the  time  employed  in  obtaining  and  drinking  it.  He  loses  also, 
and  the  community  loses,  equal  to  all  its  deteriorating  effects  upon 
his  body  and  mind,  his  children,  and  all  who  come  under  his  in- 
fluence. His  land  becomes  less  productive.  The  capital  of  course 
produced  by  his  land  and  labor  is  diminished  ;  and  thus  the  means 
are  diminished  of  future  reproduction.  And  by  the  increase  of  ex- 
penditure in  proportion  to  the  capital,  it  is  still  farther  diminished, 
till  to  meet  the  increasingly  disproportionate  expences,  the  whole  is 
often  taken,  and  the  means  of  future  reproduction  are  entirely  ex- 
hausted. And  as  there  is  no  seed  to  sow,  there  is  of  course  no  fu- 
ture harvest.  This  is  but  a  simple  history  of  what  is  taking  place  in 
thousands  of  cases  continually  ;  and  of  what  is  the  tendency  of  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  from  beginning  to  end.  It  lessens  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  land  and  labor,  and  of  course  diminishes  the  amount 
of  capital ;  while  in  proportion,  it  increases  the  expenditure,  and 
thus  in  both  ways  is  constantly  exhausting  the  means  of  future  re- 
production. And  this  is  its  tendency,  in  ail  its  bearings,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  used,  from  the  man  who  takes  only  his  glass, 
to  the  man  who  takes  his  quart  a  day.  It  is  a  palpable  and  gross 
violation  of  all  correct  principles  of  political  economy  ;  and  from  be- 
ginning to  end,  tends  to  diminish  all  the  sources  of  national  wealth. 

"  Oh,"  said  a  merchant  in  a  large  country  store,  "  it  is  a  horri- 
ble business.  When  I  set  up  my  store  at  this  corner,  there  were 
within  a  mile,  a  great  number  of  able,  thriving  farmers ;  but  now 
about  half  of  them  are  ruined  ;  and  many  of  them  were  ruined  at 
my  store.  And  there  is  not  a  store  in  the  country  that  sells  ardent 
spirit,  but  what  tends  to  produce  similar  results.  Oh,  it  is  a  hor- 
rible business."     And  are  not  the  laws  which  sanction  it  horrible 


275]  sixth  report. — 1833.  49 

laws?  Do  they  not  tend  by  their  whole  influence  to  render  the 
business  respectable,  to  perpetuate  it,  and  permanently  to  produce 
such  results  ?  results  none  the  less  horrible  because  produced  ac- 
cording to  law ;  and  which  stamp  the  law  that  sanctions  the  busi- 
ness which  produces  them,  with  the  dark,  deep  and  indelible  im- 
press of  vice  ? 

Nor  was  it  by  any  means  the  greatest  of  the  evils,  that  those 
farmers  were  ruined.  In  many  cases  too,  their  children  were  ru- 
ined ;  and  the  community  was  deprived  of  the  benefits  which  they 
might  otherwise  have  conferred  upon  it.  Nor  was  this  all,  but 
many  of  them  were  thrown  as  a  public  burden  into  the  alms-house, 
to  be  supported  by  a  tax  on  the  sober  and  industrious.  Another 
part  were  corrupting  the  children  and  youth,  and  demoralizing  so- 
ciety by  the  influence  of  their  loathsome  and  pestiferous  example. 
Was  not  that  merchant  then  prosecuting  a  business  which,  toward 
the  community,  was  palpably  unjust  ?  And  are  not  the  laws 
which  sanction  it,  equally  unjust?  What  moral  right  have  legisla- 
tors to  pass  laws,  which  enable  men  legally  to  injure  their  fellow 
men,  to  increase  their  taxes,  and  expose  their  children  to  drunken- 
ness and  ruin  ? 

And  what  was  the  effect  ultimately  on  the  merchant  himself? 
We  say  ultimately ;  because  it  does  not  follow,  even  if  he  for  a 
time  increased  his  profits  by  selling  spirit,  that  it  would  ultimately 
promote  his  benefit.  A  passer  of  counterfeit  money,  may  some- 
times inciease  his  present  profit;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  will 
ultimately  promote  even  his  pecuniary  interest. 

The  permanent,  valuable  customers  of  that  merchant,  were  con- 
stantly diminishing,  as  their  ability  was  diminishing  to  purchase  his 
goods,  or  to  pay  for  them.  Their  farms  were  growing  up  to  briars 
and  thorns,  the  enclosures  were  falling  down  ;  their  buildings  were  in 
ruin,  their  implements  of  husbandry  scattered,  or  worn  out;  their  chil- 
dren were  at  the  grogshop  or  the  scene  of  revelry  and  dissipation, 
and  their  whole  interest  was  withering  under  the  indignation  of  the 
Almighty.  Of  course,  should  they  buy  they  had  next  to  nothing 
with  which  to  pay.  Many  died  insolvent,  and  the  merchant  not 
u n frequently  lost  in  bad  debts  from  his  rum  customers  more  than 
his  profits.  And  as  the  value  of  property  around  him  diminished, 
as  is  generally  the  case  around  those  death-fountains,  the  value  of 
his  custom  diminished. 

Said  another  merchant,  who  has  made  a  great  estate,  but  never 
sold  a  drop  of  spirit,  "  When  you  shut  up  a  grogshop,  or  tear  it 
down  and  build  on  the  spot  a  respectable  store,  it  is  surprising 
how  rapidly  property  in  the  neighborhood  begins  immediately  to 
rise." 

Suppose  that  the  merchant  first  referred  to  had  so'.d  only  to  pro- 
ductive consumers ;  and  such  articles,  as  in  the  consumption 
5  20* 


50  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [276 

would  more  than  have  replaced  their  value  ;  as  was  the  case  with 
the  shoes,  as  is  the  case  with  needful  clothing,  provisions,  and  other 
useful  things.  The  property  of  the  farmers  would  have  been  con- 
stantly increasing,  and  of  course  the  value  of  their  custom  to  the 
merchant,  and  of  their  wealth  to  the  community.  Their  children 
with  increased  advantages,  might  more  than  have  filled  the  place  of 
their  fathers,  and  thus,  without  injury  to  any,  the  good  of  all  been 
promoted.  The  enormous  taxes,  for  the  support  of  paupers,  and 
the  prosecution  of  criminals,  with  which  the  community  were  bur- 
dened, might  have  been  prevented  ;  and  also  the  peculiar  expo- 
sure of  the  rising  generation  to  drunkenness,  death  and  hell.* 

So  with  all  farmers  and  all  merchants,  and  all  other  classes  of 
men  throughout  the  country.  The  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  is  a  curse 
to  the  whole  community  ;  a  cancer  on  the  vitals  of  all  the  sources 
of  national  wealth.  Even  if  the  present  profits  of  those  who  sell 
to  unproductive  consumers  were  more,  vastly  more  than  those  who 
sell  only  to  productive  consumers,  as  the  property  of  their  custom- 
ers diminishes,  and  of  course  their  ability  to  purchase,  their  future 
profits  must  be  less.  On  the  other  hand,  the  ability  of  productive 
consumers,  who  replace  what  they  consume  with  something  of 
greater  value,  constantly  increases;  and  of  course  their  value  as 
customers.  They  can  purchase  next  year,  not  only  as  much  as 
they  have  purchased  this,  but  more  ;  equal  to  the  value  of  the  addi- 
tion which  they  have  acquired,  or  a  proportion  of  it.  And  thus 
what  they  consume  becomes  a  source  continually  of  increased  re- 
production, not  only  to  them,  but  to  the  nation. f 

On  the  other  hand,  what  is  consumed  but  not  replaced  by  some 
thing  of  a  greater,  or  an  equal  value,  is  ultimately  lost — and  is,  to 
that  amount,  a  loss  to  the  country.  Whatever  causes  an  increase 
of  unproductive  consumption  therefore,  causes  a  decrease  of  na- 
tional wealth.  And  this  evil  attaches  in  a  high  degree  and  to  an 
enormous  extent,  to  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit.  If  the  property 
which  the  consumers  pay  were  burnt,  all  would  acknowledge  it  to 
be  a  total  loss  ;  though  the  merchant  and  the  distiller  and  the  grain 
grower  might  all  have  received  their  pay.  But  it  would  in  that  case 
be  a  loss  vastly  less  than  it  is  now.  It  is  now  not  only  an  entire  loss, 
but  it  diminishes,  as  we  have  seen,  beyond  almost  any  thing  else 
the  sources  and  the  power  of  future  reproduction.  It  is  therefore 
not  only  a  source  of  great  present  loss,  but  also  a  prevention  of  vast 
future  gain.  It  diminishes  in  both  ways,  the  wealth  of  the  nation, 
and  to  an  amount,  equal, 

1 .  To  the  whole  sum  which  consumers  pay  for  ardent  spirit ; 
estimated  by  those  who  are  best  acquainted  with  the  subject  at  about 
$50,000,000  annually. 

*  Appendix  E.  t  Appendix  F. 


27"J  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833.  51 

2.  The  loss  of  all  the  time  which  it  occasions. 

3.  The  diminished  productiveness  ofland,  labor  and  capital. 

4.  The  loss  of  health  and  reason  ;  and  all  the  expenditures  which 
it  occasions. 

5.  The  cost  of  supporting  the  paupers,  and  prosecuting  the  crim- 
inals occasioned  by  it. 

6.  The  property  lost  in  consequence  of  it  by  casualties  on  the 
land  and  on  the  ocean. 

7.  The  shortening  of  human  life  and  the  consequent  loss  of  hu- 
man; labor.;  amounting  in  a!!,  as  all  acquainted  with  Hie  subject 
admit,  to  a  sum  much  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  liquor.  One 
hundred  million  dollars  a  year  is  a  sum  far  less  than  is  lost  to  the 
United  States  by  this  destructive  traffic.  And  yet  this,  and  the 
diminution  of  future  gain  which  it  occasions,  would  in  one  genera- 
tion amount  to  a  sum  greater  than  the  present  value  of  all  the  real 
estate  in  the  country.  And  this  loss,  to  a  vast  extent,  is  borne  by 
those  who  are  least  able  to  bear  it,  the  laboring  classes  of  the 
community.  Il  may  not  be  amiss  to  advert  for  a  moment  to  the 
beneficial  uses  to  which  this  money  might  be  applied ;  uses  bene- 
ficial to  the  individuals,  and  to  the  nation.     It  would  purchase 

4,000,000  sheep  at  $-2,50  each  -         -         $10,000,000 

400,000  head  of  cattle  at  $25  each         -         -  10,000,000 

200,000  cows  at$  20  each         -  4,000,000 

40,000  horses  at  $100  each         -  4,000,000 

500,000  suit  of  men's  clothes  at  $20           -  10,000,000 

1,000,000  boys' do.  at  $10     -         -         .         -  10,000,000 

500,000  womens'  do.  at  $10    -  5,000.000 

1,000,000  girls'  do.  at  $3       -  3,000^000 

1,200,000  barrels  of  flour  at  $5           -  0,000,000 

S00,000  do.  beef  at  $10    -         -         -         -  8,000,000 

800,000  do.  pork  at  $12,50  -  10,000,000 

3,000,000  bushels  of  corn  50  cts.  -         -         -  1,500,000 

2,000,000  do.  potatoes  at  25  cts.         -         -         -  500,000 

10,000,000  lbs.  sugar  at  10  cts.       -         -         -  1,000,000 

400,000  do.  rice  at  5  cts.       -  200,000 

and  2,000,000  gallons  of  molasses  at  40  cts.  a  gallon  -     800,000 

It  would  also  build, 

1000  churches  at  $5,000  each            -         -         -  $5,000,000 

support  2000  ministers  of  the  gospel,  at  $500  each  1,000,000 

build  8,000  school  houses,  at  $500        -  4,000,000 

furnish  500,000  newspapers  at  $200         -         -  1,000,000 

and  establish  5,000  parish  libraries  at  $600  each,  3,000.000 
— and  all  in  a  single  year.  This  might  be  repeated,  year  after 
year,  making  in  one  generation  of  thirty  years,  thirty  times  the 
above  amount. 

Who  then  in  our  land  need  to  be  poor,  or  wretched  ?    And  what 


52  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [278 

need  to  hinder  this  land,  as  soon  as  its  population  might  wish,  from 
becoming  Immanuel's  land  ;  its  peace  flowing  as  a  river,  and  its 
righteousness  and  blessings  as  the  waves  of  the  sea  ? 

But  the  loss  of  property,  great  as  it  is,  and  enough  to  stamp  the 
laws  which  authorise  the  business  that  occasions  it,  with  everlast- 
ing execration,  is  still  among  the  least  of  its  evils. 

V.  The  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  impairs  the  health  of 
the  nation.  Health  depends  on  one  great  law  ;  viz.  The  action  of 
certain  agents,  upon  their  appropriate  organs  in  the  human  body  ; 
which  agents  and  organs,  "  the  product  of  the  Divine  hand,"  are 
so  perfectly  adapted  one  to  the  other,  that  in  view  of  all  their  con- 
sequences to  endless  being,  their  author  himself  pronounced  them 
to  be,  "  very  good  ;"  perfect,  good  enough  to  satisfy  the  mind  of 
Jehovah.  Light,  for  instance,  was  made  for  the  eye ;  air  for  the 
lungs ;  and  food,  nourishing  food  and  drink,  for  the  digestive  or- 
gans ;  causing  by  their  operations  the  functions  of  vision,  respiration, 
nutrition,  and  the  various  movements  on  which  health  and  life  de- 
pend. But  for  what  organ  in  the  human  body  was  ardent  spirit 
made  ?  There  is  none. 

What  organ  in  the  human  body  needs  its  stimulus  in  order  to 
perform  in  the  most  perfect  manner,  healthy  action  ?  There  is 
none.  What  gland  can  extract  from  it  the  least  portion  of  nutri- 
ment, or  any  thing  which  can  contribute  to  health,  or  be  in  any 
way  useful  in  the  animal  economy  ?  There  is  none.  The  anatom- 
ist, the  physiologist,  the  chemist  and  the  physician  examine  with 
the  minutest  care  every  part  throughout  the  whole  body,  and  they 
can  find  none.  God  has  made  none,  and  there  is  none.  Nor  is 
there  an  organ  whose  healthy  action  is  not  disturbed  by  arden? 
spirit ;  and  which  does  not  instinctively  reject  it.  The  blood  by  its 
circulation  conveys  to  each  part  of  the  body  the  materials  of  which 
it  is  composed,  while  each  organ  by  its  Creator  is  endowed  with 
the  power  of  selecting  from  the  mass  what  it  needs  for  nourish- 
ment, and  the  performance  of  its  appropriate  functions,  and  of  re- 
jecting the  refuse  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  system.  "  The  blood  is 
therefore  a  sort  of  common  carrier,  conveying  from  part  to  part 
what  is  entrusted  to  it,  for  the  common  benefit."  When  obliged 
to  carry  spirit,  it  presents  it  on  its  way,  as  it  does  other  materials, 
to  each  organ  ;  and  each  starts  with  mighty  effort,  not  to  welcome 
and  receive,  but  to  repel  it.  And  if  not  crippled  by  the  overpow- 
ering force  of  the  enemy,  it  succeeds  ;  and  rejected,  not  suffered 
to  step,  because  it  is  worthless,  the  carrier,  though  vexed  with  its 
burden,  is  obliged  to  take  it  on  to  the  next ;  rejected  by  that,  it 
must  carry  it  on,  till,  rejected  by  all  as  a  common  nuisance,  "  it  is 
seized  upon  by  the  emunctories,  the  scavengers  of  the  system,  and 
unceremoniously  excluded."  This  is  not  for  any  want  of  kindne^ 
in  the  system  toward  friends,  but  because  ardent  spirit  is  an  enemy, 


279]  SIXTH   REPORT.— 1S33.  53 

a  mortal  enemy.  It  would  be  treason  to  harbor  it,  and  suicide 
to  use  it.  Nature,  through  unerring  laws  stamped  by  the  Di- 
vine hand,  true  to  herself  and  her  God,  is  incapable  of  such  an 
offence  ;  and  till  poisoned  and  perverted  by  the  enemy,  will  never 
submit  to  it.  On  every  organ  it  touches,  spirit  is  a  poison  ;  and  as 
such  it  is  chased  from  organ  to  organ,  marking  its  course  with  irregu- 
larity of  action,  and  disturbance  of  function  ;  exciting  throughout  the 
system  a  war  of  extermination,  till  the  last  remnant  of  the  intruder 
is  expelled  from  the  territory.  Till  vital  power  is  prostrated  the 
enemy  can  never  have  a  lodgment.  And  if,  through  decay  of  or- 
ganic vigor,  by  the  mighty  force  of  the  intruder,  or  the  long  con- 
tinuance of  the  war,  and  by  perpetual  successions  of  new  recruits, 
it  cannot  be  expelled,  the  work  of  death  is  done  ;  the  last  citadel 
of  life  surrenders,  and  the  banner  of  universal  ruin  waves  over  all. 
Thousands  of  such  conquests  are  made  every  year,  and  of  territo- 
ries more  valuable  than  all  the  material  wealth  of  creation.  Before, 
the  prospect  was  like  Eden ;  and  after,  a  land  of  sepulchres,  with 
uncovered,  putrid  carcasses  of  drunkards,  sending  up  in  clouds 
their  poisonous  exhalation,  wafting  contagion  and  death  through  the 
land. 

To  sanction  by  law  the  recruiting  and  equipping  of  such  an  ene- 
my, and  the  sending  of  him  out  to  desolate  the  fairest  portion  of 
God's  heritage,  is  an  outrage  upon  all  principles,  not  only  of  pa- 
triotism, but  of  humanity,  which  bids  defiance  to  parallel  in  the 
history  of  legislation.  It  is  an  outrage  almost  too  gross  for  sober 
consultation.  It  would  seem  to  be  hardly  possible,  in  view  of  its 
fruits,  that  it  should  be  tolerated,  we  will  not  say  in  any  christian, 
but  in  any  civilized  State.  Even  paganism,  under  the  first  rays  of 
civilization,  has  almost  instinctively  denounced  it.*  And  were  it 
not  for  the  pestilential  moral  atmosphere  which  it  produces,  and 
the  deteriorating  and  stupifying  effects  which  that  atmosphere 
occasions,  its  continuance  would  seem  to  be  hardly  possible ;  or 
its  removal  need  any  thing  more  than  its  own  doings. 

It  is  now  known  from  the  evidence  of  facts,  that  more  than  one 
in  ten  over  wide  regions  of  country,  who  have  used  ardent  spirit, 
and  more  than  one  in  five  who  have  mixed  and  sold  it,  have,  them- 
selves, become  drunkards,  and  so  wicked  as  often  not  to  live  out 
half  their  days.  It  is  known  also  from  the  highest  and  most  abun- 
dant medical  authority,  that  more  than  one  in  five  of  the  men  who 
have  habitually  used  it,  have  been  killed  by  it ;  and  that  multitudes 
who  were  never  intoxicated,  and  never  thought  in  time  past  to  be 
intemperate,  by  the  habit  of  using  it,  even  moderately,  have  short- 
ened life  many  years  ;  and  that  it  tends  in  its  whole  influence  from 
beginning  to  end,  to  induce  and  aggravate  disease,  and  to  bring  all 

*  Appendix  G. 

5» 


54  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [280 

who  drink  it  to  a  premature  grave.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt, 
that  of  the  last  generation  in  the  United  States,  it  cut  off  more  than 
thirty  million  years  of  human  probation,  and  ushered  more  than  a 
million  of  persons,  uncalled,  into  the  presence  of  God. 

The  last  year  its  deadly  influence  has  been  still  more  strongly 
marked,  especially  over  those  regions  which  have  been  visited  by 
the  Cholera.  In  the  city  of  Albany,  with  a  population  of  about 
twenty-five  thousand,  of  whom  three  hundred  and  thirty-six,  over 
sixteen  years  of  age,  died  of  the  Cholera,  of  the  five  thousand 
members  of  Temperance  Societies  there  were  only  two  deaths  ; 
showing  that  such  persons  were  not  one  fortieth  part  as  liable  to 
death,  by  that  disease,  as  other  persons.  Of  the  rest  of  the  popu- 
lation one  in  sixty  died,  while  of  the  members  of  Temperance  So- 
cieties, only  one  in  twenty-five  hundred. 

Of  about  six  hundred  who  were  brought  to  the  Park  Hospital  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  but  about  one  in  five  called  themselves 
even  temperate  drinkers.  And  many  of  them,  after  they  recover- 
ed, were  soon  intoxicated.  The  number  was  extremely  small, 
wlio  died  of  that  disease,  who  had  not  for  two  years  used  ar- 
dent spirit.  Some  such  cases  there  were  ;  but  they  were  strongly 
marked  exceptions  to  the  general  rule.  Said  a  distinguished  gen- 
tleman in  that  city,  after  paying  special  attention  to  this  subject, 
"  facts  abundantly  authorise  the  conclusion,  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  sale  and  use  of  spirit,  there  had  not  been  Cholera  enough 
in  the  city  of  New  York  to  have  caused  the  cessation  of  business 
for  a  single  day." 

And  says  another  gentleman  of  that  city,  "  a  quantity  of  spirit 
was  taken  from  a  certain  store  in  the  morning,  and  distributed  to 
a  number  of  grogshops.  In  the  evening  the  workmen  assembled 
and  received  their  accustomed  quantity.  The  next  morning  one 
and  another,  and  another  were  carried  by  my  door  to  the  hospital, 
and  in  the  afternoon  were  taken  to  the  Potters  Field.  And  so  from 
day  to  day,  disease  and  death  followed  round  after  ardent  spirit, 
seizing  upon  those  who  drank  it,  and  hurrying  them  to  destruction, 
till  so  obvious  and  striking  was  the  connection,  that  some  even  of 
the  sellers,  seared  as  were  their  consciences,  said,  This  will  never 
do  ;  the  way  from  the  grogshop  to  hell  is  too  short ;"  and  aban- 
doned the  business.  Others  shut  up  their  shops  and  fled.  "  In  my 
neighborhood,"  says  another  gentleman,  "  there  was  not  a  retailer 
left ;  they  were  actually  afraid  to  encounter  the  dangers  of  their 
own  business."  It  made  the  arrows  of  death  fly  so  thickly  around 
them,  that  they  dare  not  risk  it.  Had  they  been  sure  that  those 
arrows  would  strike  only  their  neighbors,  they  might  have  been 
willing  to  stay  and  drive  the  business.  But  when  there  was  dan- 
ger that  the  shafts  from  their  engines  of  death  would  strike  them- 
selves, they  closed  their  doors  and  fled.     How  many  lives  had 


2S1]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  55 

been  spared,  how  many  families  saved  from  ruin,  and  how  many 
evils  averted  from  the  community,  had  they  never  returned,  and 
their  cholera  manufactories  remained  closed  forever. 

How  many  who  were  consigned  the  last  summer  to  an  untimely 
grave,  and  we  fear  to  a  miserable  eternity,  had  now  been  in  the 
land  of  the  living,  and  prisoners  of  hope,  had  none  been  found 
reckless  enough  to  keep  such  establishments  open.  But  some 
there  were  who  professed  to  be  friends  of  humanity,  who  continued 
with  a  steady  hand  to  deal  out  the  poison.  And  as  their  customers 
might  not  live  to  come  again,  they  sold  them  instantly,  on  the  spot, 
what  they  would  buy.  When  the  husband  fell,  and  the  children 
were  seized,  they  sold  his  widow  the  cause  of  death ;  and  when 
the  neighbors  came  to  bury  the  children,  their  widowed  mother, 
with  what  the  rum-seller  furnished  her,  was  found  intoxicated  on 
the  floor.  On  the  day  that  was  set  apart  for  humiliation,  fasting, 
and  prayer,  that  God  would  spare  his  people  and  not  suffer  the  de- 
stroyer any  longer  to  smite  them,  one,  lest  praying,  though  it  should 
not  make  him  leave  off  sinning,  should  at  least  for  a  day  deprive 
him  of  its  gains,  kept  his  liquor  store  open,  and  sold  to  all  who 
would  purchase,  till  the  time  for  public  worship.  He  then  hastened 
to  be  in  his  place,  and  join,  apparently,  with  devout  gravity,  in 
supplication  to  the  Lord,  that  he  would  keep  off  the  Cholera ; 
and  when  public  service  was  closed,  he  hastened  again,  as  if  to 
make  up  lost  time,  to  his  store ;  and  spent  the  day  in  furnishing  a 
chief  cause  of  Cholera  to  all  who  would  buy.  If  he  did  not  pro- 
duce as  much  Cholera  on  that  day  as  on  other  days,  it  may  be 
attributed,  not  so  much  to  his  prayers  for  its  prevention,  as  to  the 
time  which  they  hindered  him  from  furnishing  its  cause.  And  if 
prayers  are  answered,  not  according  to  words,  but  to  deeds,  instead 
of  having  lessened  the  number  of  the  dying  and  the  dead,  his  may 
have  increased  it ;  and  they  may  increase  too  the  awfulness  of  his 
retribution,  when  he  who,  on  probation  sells  death,  shall,  without 
repentance,  reap  also  death. 

Were  retailers  of  spirit  in  their  own  persons  and  families  to  bear 
all  the  evils  which  they  occasion  to  others,  they  would  soon  close 
their  business.  Or  were  these  evils  all  concentrated  on  the  heads 
of  legislators,  they  would  cease  to  make  laws  which  should  au- 
thorise the  business  that  produces  them. 

Instead  of  "  An  act,  entitled  an  act,  to  regulate  the  sale  of  spirit 
for  the  public  good,"  any  longer  disgracing  the  statute  book  and 
vitiating  the  community,  they  would  see  that  the  proper  title  for 
every  such  act,  when  determined  by  its  consequences,  is,  "  An  act 
for  the  destruction  of  mankind."  But  would  it  be  any  more  dread- 
ful for  the  man  who  sells  ardent  spirit,  or  the  man  who  makes  the 
law  which  authorises  the  sale  of  it,  to  endure  these  evils,  than  it  is 
for  the  community  ? 


56  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [282 

Suppose  a  man  who  buys  a  gallon  of  a  man  authorised  by  law 
to  sell  it,  should  under  its  influence  go  into  the  family  of  the 
man  who  made  the  law,  and  for  a  few  days  take  the  direction,  and 
do  what  he  now  does  in  his  own  family  ;  break  the  looking-glass, 
turn  over  the  tables,  strike  the  children  with  the  tongs,  and  their 
mother  with  the  chairs  ;  and  to  save  their  lives,  make  them  flee, 
naked  and  barefoot,  through  the  snow,  to  the  neighbors  for  help  ; 
and  suppose  that  this  is  a  common  fruit  of  the  law  which  authorises 
the  business  ;  would  he  make  such  a  law  again  ?  And  would  he 
not  raise  both  hands,  his  voice,  and  his  heart,  tc  have  that  which  he 
has  made  repealed  ?  or  so  modified  as  no  longer  to  sanction  such 
a  business  ? 

Or  suppose  again,  that  the  intemperate  appetites  which  the  legal 
traffic  forms,  and  the  cases  of  drunkenness  and  death  to  which 
they  lead,  instead  of  being,  as  they  now  are,  scattered  through  the 
community,  should  all  be  in  the  families  of  the  legislators,  of  spirit 
venders  and  their  nearest  friends  ;  and  that  they  should  have  to 
endure  all  the  sickness  and  sorrows,  and  heart  breaking  wretched- 
ness, which  they  occasion,  and  which  they  will  occasion  to  endless 
being,  would  they  any  longer  sanction  the  cause  ?  or  would  any 
one,  because  he  could  do  it  legally,  perpetuate  it  ?  Though  the 
evils  would  be  no  greater  if  they  were  all  endured  by  them  than 
when  endured  by  others,  yet  who  can  doubt  but  that  they  would 
be  great  enough,  and  be  felt  to  be  great  enough,  to  stamp  the  cause 
of  them,  and  the  sanctioning  by  law  of  the  business  which  produces 
them,  with  everlasting  abhorrence.  Who  can  doubt  but  that  the 
licensing  of  such  a  business  would  cease  at  once,  universally  and 
forever  ?  Oh,  if  that  would  cause  it  to  cease,  and  nothing  else  can, 
what  an  unspeakable  benefit  would  it  be  to  the  world,  and  what 
an  inestimable  saving  of  property,  character,  health,  reason,  life 
and  soul,  to  all  future  generations,  could  these  evils,  past,  present, 
and  to  come  be  all  concentrated,  and  poured  out,  for  a  time,  in  one 
dark,  desolating  current  on  the  heads  of  legislators  and  venders 
of  spirit.  But  the  Committee,  with  all  their  hearts,  would  depre- 
cate such  a  thing ;  and  rejoice  with  inexpressible  delight,  that  a 
fellow  feeling  for  others'  woes  will  certainly,  unless  this  cause  be 
abandoned  of  God,  lead  to  the  same  glorious  result. 

VI.  The  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  tends  to  derange  the  intellect, 
and  to  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  nation. 

In  all  cases  in  which  ardent  spirit  deranges  healthy  functions  of 
body,  it  tends  also  to  disturb  regular  action  of  mind  and  to  corrupt 
the  feelings  of  the  heart.  It  injures  the  one,  not  less  than  the 
■  other.  This  is  the  effect  not  only  of  a  very  free  use  of  it,  but  of 
all  use  of  it.  It  is  its  tendency  from  beginning  to  end,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  taken,  and  to  the  power  of  (he  system,  to  with- 
stand its  natural  effects.     As  it  courses  its  way  through  the  blood- 


283]  SIXTH   REPORT. — 1833.  57 

vessels,  it  enters  even  the  capillaries  of  the  brain,  that  tender  and 
delicate  organ  which  forms  the  link  between  matter  and  mind,  irri- 
tating, poisoning,  and  stupifying  that  heart  and  soul  of  mental  vigor. 
A  man  buying  according  to  law,  of  a  man  who  sells  that  which 
legislators  by  law  sanction,  and  drinking  only  as  much,  reasoning 
as  legislators  do,  "  as  the  public  good  requires,"  becomes  so 
blockish  that  his  neighbors  and  his  acquaintance  begin  to  whisper 

one  to  another,  "  What  is  the  matter  of ?  how  he  has  lost  his 

mind.  Not  long  ago  he  was  one  of  the  first  men  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, but  he  is  becoming  an  idiot."  What  is  the  matter  ?  He 
has  been  doing  what  legislators,  by  the  high  sanction  of  law,  say 
is  for  the  "  public  good,"  drinking  regularly  ;  not  to  intoxication, 
that  would  be  bad,  the  law  forbids  it ;  but  only  as  much  and  as 
often,  as  in  his  estimation,  judging  from  his  feelings  at  the  time,  did 
him  good ;  only  enough,  this  time,  to  make  him  feel  well,  and  the 
next  to  make  him  feel  better,  and  so  on,  "for  the  public  good"  till 
he  has  become,  not  only  a  blank  but  a  blot  in  creation  ;  and  has  set 
an  example  adapted  to  blast  the  excellence  and  wither  the  pros- 
pects of  his  children,  and  children's  children,  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  use  of  ardent  spirit  tends  also  to  derange  healthy  mental 
action,  in  another  way,  by  its  irritating  effect  on  the  nerves.  And 
this  leads,  in  many  cases,  to  total  insanity ;  as  the  records  of  every 
lunatic  asylum  in  Christendom  testify.  The  drinking  of  it,  the 
vending  of  it,  and  the  laws  which  sanction  it,  all,  by  their  natural 
and  constant  effects,  tend  to  weaken  the  understanding,  blunt  the 
perception,  and  derange  the  intellect  of  the  nation. 

They  tend  also  to  harden  the  heart,  sear  the  conscience,  pollute 
the  affections,  and  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  people.  Hence  the 
wonderful  fact,  that  three  fourths  of  the  crimes  which  are  prose-> 
cuted,  are  committed  under  the  influence  of  spirit ;  not  under  its 
influence  when  taken  to  intoxication,  but  when  taken  moderately, 
and  often  in  no  greater  quantities  than  the  law  contemplates.  That 
use  of  it.  which  the  law  sanctions,  by  its  violation  of  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  God,  is  carrying  on  continually  a  process  as  exten- 
sive and  as  criminal  as  its  effects,  of  bodily  and  mental,  physical, 
intellectual  and  moral  deterioration  ;  tending  to  change  gigantic 
strength  to  pigmy  weakness  ;  celestial  order  to  "infernal  discord  ; 
and  heavenly  purity,  light  and  love,  to  hellish  pollution,  darkness 
and  hale. 

Through  sin,  man  has  already  in  himself  the  elements  of  dis- 
order, the  seeds  of  death.  This  makes  them  vegetate,  grow  rank, 
and  produce  a  speedy  and  superabundant  crop.  It  generates  im- 
pure thought ;  and  excites  unhallowed  feeling. '  It  kindles  polluted 
desire,  fires  abandoned  purpose,  and  fiendish  malignity. 

The  harmony  established  by  the  divine  hand  between  the  men- 
ial and  moral  powers,  the  appetites  of  the  body  and  the  passions 
21 


58  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [284 

of  the  soul,  having  by  transgression  been  broken,  and  reason  and 
conscience  often  through  sin  been  brought  into  vile  and  hateful 
subserviency  to  appetite  and  passion,  ardent  spirit  increases  that 
subserviency,  renders  it  more  entire  and  perpetual.  It  operates  on 
all  the  powers  of  man,  but  satan-like,  on  different  powers,  in  totally 
opposite  ways.  The  understanding,  already  too  weak,  it  weakens 
still  more ;  the  conscience,  too  torpid,  it  renders  more  torpid  still ; 
and  the  heart,  already  hard,  it  makes  still  harder ;  and  the  affec- 
tions polluted,  it  pollutes  still  more.  While  the  appetites,  already 
too  keen  and  headstrong,  it  makes  still  more  so ;  and  the  passions 
it  vitiates,  strengthens  and  inflames.  The  man,  already  reckless, 
it  makes  still  more  reckless ;  saying.  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for 
tomorrow  we  die."  Thus  it  comes  in,  with  its  whole  influence  in 
every  stage  of  its  operation,  to  aid  the  great  adversary  in  the  de- 
struction of  men.  Depravity  it  depraves,  pollutes  even  pollution, 
and  makes  vileness  itself  still  more  vile.  All  the  mischiefs  which 
sin  and  Satan  have  occasioned  in  the  soul,  it  increases ;  while  with 
a  mighty  force,  it  counteracts  all  the  beneficent  designs  of  Jehovah 
for  its  deliverance  from  sin  and  hell,  and  its  restoration  to  the  dig- 
nity and  beauty  of  his  image ;  the  light  and  purity,  the  bliss  and 
glory  of  heaven.  Thus,  by  a  twofold  process,  throughout  its  whole 
course,  increasing  voluntary  wickedness,  and  counteracting  the 
means  of  divine  appointment  for  its  extinction,  it  is  working  out  the 
eternal  damnation  of  men. 

Here  is  the  philosophical  reason,  the  rationale  of  the  facts,  that 
ten  times  as  many  in  the  United  States  who  drink  ardent  spirit,  in 
proportion  to  the  number,  are  idle  as  of  other  men  ;  ten  times  as 
many  who  drink  it  commit  crimes,  as  of  those  who  do  not  drink  it ; 
and  ten  times  as  many  in  proportion  to  the  number,  who  do  not 
drink  it,  become  hopefully  pious,  embrace  the  gospel  and  confess 
the  Saviour  before  men,  as  of  those  who  do.  The  opposite  in  all 
respects  to  godliness,  and  its  grand  opposer,  it  is  unprofitable  unto 
all  things,  destructive  to  the  life  that  now  is,  and  also  to  that  which 
is  to  come.  Whether  we  look  at  the  body  or  the  soul,  at  time  or 
eternity,  in  the  lights  principles  and  facts,  we  see  upon  it  the  broad 
image  of  death.  This  results  from  its  nature,  from  the  nature  of 
man,  and  from  principles  deep  in  the  government  of  God,  all  per- 
vading, irresistible,  and  which  will  be  as  durable  and  unchanging 
as  the  eternal  throne.  So  long  as  the  traffic  continues  which  vio- 
lates them,  the  result,  by  laws  established  by  the  divine  hand,  must 
be  death ;  and  the  legislation  which  sanctions  it,  have  inscribed 
upon  it  in  broad  capitals  for  creation  to  look  at,  Opposition  to 
the  laws  of  God.  And  its  consequences,  with  a  voice  like  the 
noise  of  many  waters,  and  of  mighty  thunderings,  will  break  on 
every  ear  in  creation,  saying,  "  The  way  of  transgressors  is  hard." 
Father,  mother,  brother,  sister,  husband,  wife,  children,  all  are 


285]  SIXTH   REPORT. — 1833.  59 

sacrificed  ;  God,  Christ,  heaven,  the  soul,  eternity,  every  thing 
dear  and  every  thing  momentous  for  both  worlds  are  madly  spurn- 
ed away  in  that  state  of  mind  which  this  foul  spirit  is,  from  its 
nature,  adapted  universally  to  produce.  Can  there  be  a  doubt  but 
that  the  vending  of  it  to  be  drunk,  and  the  laws  which  sanction  it, 
are  wicked  ;  and  tend  to  array  a  mighty  influence  against  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Son  of  God  ? 

Only  a  small  quantity,  taken  so  prudently  as  to  leave  a  man 
the  possession  of  his  reason  and  the  control  of  his  limbs,  is,  never- 
theless, adapted  to  bar  the  mind  to  good  and  to  open  it  to  evil.  Mo- 
tives to  the  one  it  weakens,  and  to  the  other  it  strengthens.  In  di- 
rect and  palpable  violation  of  what  the  Saviour  inculcates,  as  the 
proper  desire  and  daily  petition  of  every  soul  under  heaven,  it  leads 
men  into  temptation  and  delivers  them  to  evil.  Taking  "  day  by 
day,"  not  "  daily  bread,"  but  poison,  and  of  the  most  deceitful 
and  malignant  kind,  that  Divine  Agent  who  loathes  it,  and  all  its 
effects  as  an  utter  abomination,  and  who  would  otherwise  illumin- 
ate and  purify  and  save  with  an  everlasting  salvation,  is  grieved 
away.  The  unrighteous  and  filthy  not  only  remain,  but  be- 
come more  unrighteous,  and  more  filthy ;  till,  having  been  often 
reproved,  and  hardened  their  necks,  they  are  suddenly  destroyed, 
and  God  saith,  "  without  remedy." 

Over  wide  regions  of  country,  where  the  facts  are  known,  and  a 
part  of  the  people  abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  from 
the  traffic  in  it,  and  a  part  do  not, — as  the  Committee  behold  ten 
times  as  many  in  proportion  to  the  number,  of  one  class  enlisting 
apparently  under  the  banners  of  Immanuel,  as  of  the  other ;  and 
see  the  number  from  one,  as  light  increases,  constantly  and  rapidly 
increasing,  and  from  the  other  as  constantly  and  rapidly  diminishing, 
— they  cannot  but  feel,  that  the  laws  which  sanction  the  traffic 
and  use,  and  proclaim  them  to  be  right,  are  radically  and  mor- 
ally wrong ;  offensive  to  the  Saviour,  and  hostile  to  the  temporal 
and  eternal  interests  of  men.  And  they  cannot  but  most  respect- 
fully and  kindly,  earnestly  and  perseveringly  entreat  the  legisla- 
tors of  our  country,  by  the  rich  mercies  which  he  has  so  bounti- 
fully bestowed  upon  it,  and  by  the  agonies  which  he  so  freely  en- 
dured for  our  race,  and  the  glories  which  he  so  graciously  proffers 
them,  no  longer  to  sanction  these  iniquities  ;  or  say  by  legislation 
that  they  are  either  useful  or  right.  As  He  poured  out  life  to  re- 
deem them,  and  would  have  all  men  come  to  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  his  truth,  and  be  his  obedient  and  glorified  people,  they 
would  beseech  legislators  no  longer  to  do  what  tends  so  power- 
fully, extensively,  and  fatally  to  hinder  it.  As  there  is  joy  in  hea- 
ven over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  and  a  new  burst  of  praise  breaks 
forth  at  the  proclamation  of  a  soul  born  of  God,  what  must  be  the 
grief,  the  indignation  and  wrath  in  that  world  at  the  continuance 


60  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [286 

and  encouragement  of  what  is  known,  with  all  who  come  under  its 
influence,  to  tend  infallibly  and  forever  to  prevent  it  ?  If  those  who 
have  been  wise  to  turn  men  to  righteousness  shall  shine  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament  and  as  the  stars  forever  and  ever, 
what  shall  they  be  who  have  been  instrumental  in  preventing  it,  and 
sinking  those  who  might  have  risen  from  glory  to  glory,  into  the 
blackness  of  darkness  forever. 

The  Committee  would  not  apply  what  they  say,  to  the  days  ot 
darkness  and  ignorance  that  are  past,  but  only  to  the  continuance 
of  the  evil  in  future,  when,  and  where  the  facts  on  this  subject  are, 
or  might  be  known. 

What  they  ask  of  legislators  is,  that  they  will  not  by  legislation 
hinder  the  progress  of  the  Temperance  Reformation,  or  sanction 
by  law  that  which  opposes  it ;  but  let  its  friends,  in  dependence  on 
God,  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  information  and  kind  moral  in- 
fluence, unobstructed  by  law,  carry  it  onward  from  conquering  to 
conquer,  till  there  shall  not  be  a  drunkard,  or  a  drunkard-maker, 
or  a  legislator  who  sanctions  the  business  that  produces  either, 
under  heaven. 

This  Reformation  first  had  to  meet  the  numerous  and  mighty 
army  of  moderate  and  respectable  drinkers  ;  but  they  soon  gave 
way,  and  their  ranks  were  broken ;  a  million  deserted  the  enemy, 
and  came  over  in  triumph  to  the  temperance  cause. 

It  next  had  to  meet  the  more  formidable  array  of  church  mem- 
bers, headed  by  many  a  deacon,  not  a  few  magistrates,  and  some 
preachers,  in  word  at  least,  of  the  gospel.  They  were  equipping 
the  enemy,  furnishing  him  with  provisions  and  implements  of  war. 
As  his  numbers  by  desertion  and  death  were  diminished,  they  were 
with  fearful  rapidity  raising  up  new  recruits ;  and  tempting  those 
who  had  deserted  and  seemed  for  a  time  to  have  clean  escaped 
from  the  destroyer,  back  to  fight  again  under  his  standard.  The 
battle  here  was  more  serious.  The  characters  engaged  gave  im- 
portance to  the  conflict.  But  this  mighty  phalanx  has  also  been 
broken.  They  are  flying  in  multitudes,  not  away  from,  but  to  the 
ranks  of  Temperance,  and  becoming,  many  of  them  the  first  and 
the  bravest,  the  most  self-denying  and  devoted  in  the  promotion  01 
the  cause.  Having  before  not  only  slain  their  thousands,  but,  un- 
wittingly, fastened  the  poisoned  arrow  in  the  heart  of  tens  of  thou- 
sands more,  they  are  doubly  anxious  softly  to  extract  it,  and  point 
the  agonizing  and  often  dying  sufferer  to  the  balm  in  Gilead,  and 
the  physician  there. 

Under  the  Captain  of  Salvation  the  conquest  has  advanced,  till 
it  now  meets,  in  open  day,  die  thoroughly  disciplined,  and  long 
tried  bands  of  legislators. 

The  great  contest,  which  is  to  decide  whether  this  work  of  mer- 
cy is  to  go  immediately  and  rapidly -onward,  to  its  consummation, 
is -to  "be  with  them  :  not  for  ihe  purpose  of  a  conquest  over  them, 


287]  SIXTH    REPORT. — 1833.  61 

but  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  those  who  lie  entrenched  behind 
them;  around  whom  is  thrown  the  mighty  rampart  of  legislation, 
and  before  whom  are  drawn  up  in  solid  column,  the  mighty  pha- 
lanx of  legislators ;  and  who  with  such  a  front,  bid  defiance  to 
those  who  would  be  their  benefactors,  and  pour  the  swelling  tide  of 
mercies  down  upon  them  and  their  children  after  them  through  all 
generations  to  the  end  of  the  world,  and  onward  to  eternity. 

The  Committee  would  state  explicitly,  that  they  do  not  address 
legislatures  as  bodies,  but  they  address  legislators  as  individuals; 
each  of  whom  has  a  soul,  and  like  each  one  of  the  people  is  re- 
sponsible to  the  same  high  tribunal  of  public  opinion  here,  and  of 
unerring  rectitude  hereafter,  and  who,  as  a  part  of  the  people,  is 
himself  and  his  children  after  him,  to  bear  the  blessings  or  the 
woes  of  his  legislation  ;  and  they  say  to  them,  We  have  no  wish  for 
any  contest  with  you  ;  we  deprecate  such  a  thing  ;  we  see  among 
you  many  of  our  friends,  and  when  disbanded  and  acting  as  indi- 
viduals, the  friends  and  helpers  of  our  cause.  With  thousands  we 
rejoice  in  the  aid  thus  afforded  by  your  example  and  influence.  But 
as  legislators  you  are  organized,  and  on  the  wrong  side.  You  li- 
cense the  enemy  ;  and  it  is  under  your  flag  that  he  makes  his 
depredations  upon  all  that  is  dear  and  lovely  in  possession,  and  all 
that  is  fair,  and  excellent  and  glorious,  in  prospect.  You  have 
thrown  around  him  the  mighty  breastwork  of  your  sanction,  and 
stand  yourselves  in  front.  It  is  only  through  your  bodies  that 
he  can  now  be  reached,  and  when  the  shafts  strike  him,  the  dense 
medium  through  which  they  pass  breaks  their  force  ;  and  with  the 
shield  of  your  sanction,  their  point  is  warded  off,  and  execution  pre- 
vented. While  his  shafts,  dipped  in  poison,  and  nerved  by  legis- 
lation, are  flying  and  spreading  destruction  on  every  side. 

Legislators,  Friends,  called  to  be  Benefactors,  and  to  do  good 
as  you  have  opportunity,  we  most  affectionately  and  earnestly,  as 
the  destinies  of  our  country,  of  the  world  and  its  unborn  millions 
are  at  stake,  beseech  you  to  remove  yourselves,  and  your  legisla- 
tion out  of  the  way.  Let  the  fire  of  light  and  love  break  unob- 
structed, in  its  naked  and  all-subduing  brightness,  on  the  heart  of 
the  enemy  behind  you,  and  the  victory  shall  be  ours,  shall  be  yours ; 
and  the  joy,  the  joy  of  all ;  and  the  glory  of  all,  be  given  to  Him,  of 
whom,  and  through  whom,  and  to  whom  are  all  things ;  while  the 
fruits  of  the  victory  shall  flow  down  with  ever  growing  richness  and 
fertility,  fulness  and  beauty,  to  endless  ages. 

The  only  reason  why  it  was  ever  thought  proper  to  license  any 
one  to  sell  ardent  spirit,  and  thus  teach  by  law  the  propriety  of  the 
traffic,  was  the  erroneous  idea,  that  to  drink  it  moderately  is  use- 
ful ;  and  therefore  right.  But  as  the  drinking  of  it  moderately, 
would  strongly  tempt  men  to  drink  it  immoderately,  and  many,  if  it 
were  sold  to  them,  would  be  ruined,  and  become  a  nuisance  to 
6  21* 


62  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [288 

society,  legislators  thought  to  guard  against  these  evils,  by  providing 
that  none  should  sell  it  except  respectable  men ;  and  no  more  of 
them  than  the  public  good  required  ;  and  that  they  should  sell 
only  to  such  men  as  would  not  be  injured  by  it. 

But  as  it  is  now  known  that  all  who  drink  it  are  injured  by  it, 
and  that  the  public  good,  instead  of  requiring,  forbids  that  any 
should  sell  it;  and  that  licensing  it,  while  it  authorises,  and  perpet- 
uates the  traffic,  does  not  and  cannot  prevent  its  evils,  the  whole 
foundation  of  that  legislation  which  authorises  and  licenses  its  con- 
tinuance is  entirely  swept  away.  It  has  nothing  to  stand  upon ; 
and  were  the  traffic  not  upheld  by  the  rum  parly,  and  those  who 
hope  to  make  money  by  it,  it  would  fall  of  itself;  and  under  the 
long  accumulated  and  mighty  weight  with  which  it  has  burdened 
the  community,  it  would  sink  to  rise  no  more.  Let  legislators  and 
all  respectable  men  cease  to  sanction  it,  and  the  last  relic  which 
makes  it  even  tolerable  in  a  civilized  community,  will  be  removed. 
None  will  engage  in  it  but  the  abandoned,  who  carry  the  mark  of 
infamy  on  their  foreheads,  and  who  are  hastening  rapidly,  to  their 
own  place. 

But  it  is  said,  "  The  licensing  of  the  traffic  is  a  source  of  rev- 
enue to  the  State,  and  therefore  the  public  good  requires  it."  This 
revenue  is  much  like  that  of  the  woman  who  sold  her  grain  and 
her  rags  to  purchase  whiskey  for  her  children.  She  said  it  was 
cheaper  to  keep  them  on  whiskey,  than  on  bread  ;  and  as  it  made 
a  market  for  her  rags,  it  was  a  source  of  profit ;  in  governmental 
language,  of  revenue.  Her  garments  and  those  of  her  children 
were  soon  nearly  all  rags,  and  all  sold  ;  when  her  revenue  had  be- 
come such  that  she  and  her  children,  as  a  public  burden,  were 
obliged,  by  a  public  tax,  to  be  supported  at  the  almshouse. 

This  well  illustrates  the  principle  and  the  effect  of  raising  revenue 
from  ardent  spirit.  What  are  the  facts?  In  the  county  of  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  the  support  of  pauperism,  nearly  the  whole  of 
which  was  occasioned  by  the  sale  and  use  of  spirit,  cost  in  1830, 
more  than  $21,000.  From  which;  deduct  between  eight  and  nine 
thousand,  the  revenue  obtained,  leaving  between  thirteen  and  four- 
teen thousand  dollars,  in  that  single  item,  to  come  from  the  same 
source  with  the  support  of  the  woman  whose  revenue  was  so  im- 
portant, the  pockets  of  the  people.  To  this  also  ought  to  be  added 
in  balancing  the  account,  the  cost  of  crimes,  idleness,  dissipation, 
sickness,  and  die  various  other  evils  occasioned  by  it.  And  will 
not  the  people,  for  the  sake  of  being  relieved  of  the  burdens,  be 
willing  to. dispense  with  the  revenue?  Is  there  a  man  in  the  com- 
munity, unless  a  rum-seller,  or  drinker,  or  one  who  hopes  to  make 
money,  or  obtain  influence  by  the  use  of  spirit,  who  will  wish  to 
retain  it?  If  so,  let  him  be  called  to  bear  in  his  own  person  and 
family  all  the  evils  which  it  occasions,  and  he  will  change  his  mind, 


289]  sixth  report.— 1833.  63 

The  warden  of  the  prison  in  Baltimore  states  that  2322  crim- 
inals were  the  same  year  committed  to  that  prison;  and  that  424 of 
them  were  intoxicated,  when  they  were  brought  there ;  and  that  in 
his  opinion,  eight  tenths  of  the  whole  were  intemperate  men. 

The  expenses  of  the  city  of  New  York  in  1832,  as  stated  in  the 
Report  of  the  Comptroller,  were  $893,886  29,— $685,385  74  of 
which  were  raised  by  a  direct  tax.  The  support  of  the  criminal, 
pauper,  and  civil  establishment  cost  $315,782  98;  and  the  Chol- 
era, in  addition  to  all  public  and  private  charities,  and  individual 
expenditures,  cost  $102,575  85,— making  $418,358  83  ;  by  far  the 
greatest,  proportion  of  which,  as  well  as  almost  innumerable  other 
evils,  were  the  fruits  of  about  3000  spirit  venders,  licensed  to  deal 
out  the  poison  to  about  210,000  souls.  And  what  do  these  men 
pay  as  a  compensation  for  the  enormous  mischiefs  which  they 
occasion?  $22,157.  And,  say  a  most  respectable  committee  of 
gentlemen  in  that  city,  after  investigating  this  subject,  "  We,  the 
people,  pay  about  $400,000  more  than  we  should  if  no  drams  were 
sold  or  drunk  in  the  city.  Suppose  that  only  half  of  the  expenses 
of  Cholera  were  occasioned  by  drinking,  and  five  sixths  of  the 
criminal,  police,  and  pauper  establishments ;  and  one  half  of  the 
salaries  of  officers,  it  would  amount  to  $302,099  15,  which  is  now 
paid  as  a  tax  for  licensed  vices;  over  $10,000  taken  from  the 
earnings  of  the  people  for  every  licensed  grogshop  which  pays  $10 
into  the  treasury."  What  right  have  legislators  to  make  laws, 
which  in  their  operation  thus  tax  the  community,  and  take  away 
the  hard  earnings  of  the  people  ? 

The  grand  jury  of  the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  after  care- 
ful examination,  say  that  they  have  come  to  the  deliberate  conclu- 
sion, that  if  this  source  of  vice  and  misery  were  at  an  end,  three 
quarters  of  the  crimes  and  pauperism  of  the  city  would  be  pre- 
vented, together  with  an  incalculable  amount  of  wretchedness,  that 
does  not  come  under  the  cognizance  of  law.  And  they  add,  "  It 
is  our  solemn  impression  that  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  our 
public  authorities  should  no  longer  sanction  the  evil  complained  of, 
by  granting  licenses  for  the  purpose  of  vending  ardent  spirit; 
thereby  legalising  the  traffic,  at  the  expense  of  our  moral,  intellect- 
ual and  physical  jwiver." 

Of  653,  who  were  in  one  year  committed  to  the  house  of  Cor- 
rection in  Boston,  453  were  drunkards.  And  the  overseer  states, 
that  many  of  the  others  who  were  committed  as  vagabonds,  might, 
with  equal  propriety,  be  called  drunkards;  and  that  his  opinion  is, 
that  there  were  not  ten  among  the  whole  who  were  not  in  the  habit 
of  the  excessive  use  of  ardent  spirit ;  that  intemperance  is  almost 
the  sole  cause  of  all  the  commitments,  that  those  who  were  com- 
mitted as  pilferers  were  almost  all  drunkards,  and  that  pro^aDiy 
they  would  not  pilfer  if  they  could  not  procure  rum  with  the  arti- 
cles which  they  have  stolen. 


64  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [290 

Is  it  not  manifestly  vicious  for  legislators  to  sanction  a  busi- 
ness which  produces  such  results?  They  are  elected  by  the  peo- 
ple, and  sent  to  legislate  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  crime,  not 
producing  it.  And  a  vast  portion  of  all  their  time  is  now  occupied 
in  making  laws  to  punish  crimes,  which  their  own  legislation  pro- 
duces. And  the  people  are  taxed  millions  of  dollars  annually,  to 
sustain  the  burden  occasioned  by  that  legislation.  Will  the  people 
of  this  free  country  longer  endure  it  ?  They  punish  the  criminals, 
and  legalise  the  traffic  that  makes  them.  Like  the  father,  who,  to 
prevent  his  son  from  swearing,  swore  that  if  he  did  swear,  he  would 
visit  him  with  his  wrath ;  and  with  about  as  much  wisdom  as  the 
man,  who,  when  asked  what  should  be  done  by  fathers  to  keep 
their  sons  from  being  ruined  by  ardent  spirit,  answered,  "  Why, 
they  must  drink  it  all  themselves." 

They  build  prisons,  and  license  men  to  carry  on  the  trade  that 
fills  them ;  erect  lunatic  asylums,  and  furnish  their  tenants ;  the 
people  build  almshouses,  and  the  magistrates  license  pauper- 
making  manufactories  to  fill  them,  augment  fourfold  the  public 
burdens,  and  tenfold  the  personal  and  domestic  wretchedness  ol 
the  country.  And  when  the  people  rise,  as  they  now  often  do, 
and  will  more  often  in  future,  and  vote  that  they  will  not  have  such 
nuisances  among  them,  the  county  commissioners,  or  some  petty 
officers  clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority,  come  in  and  gravely 
declare,  that  "the  public  good  require  them;"  and  thus  again 
load  the  community  with  burdens.  This  is  legal  oppression,  legis- 
lative tyranny;  and  it  leaves  behind  it  a  deep  and  stinging  sense 
of  injustice.  A  few  retailers  have  the  profit  of  making  paupers, 
and  the  people  have  to  support  them ;  and  then  when  they  com- 
plain of  the  palpable  injustice,  to  be  told,  "  The  public  good  re- 
quires it ! "  This  is  too  much  ;  and  it  needs  no  spirit  of  prophecy 
to  announce  that  the  time  is  not  distant  when  men  born  to  be  free, 
who  have  the  power  and  the  heart  to  be  free,  will  not  endure  it. 

A  few  men,  for  their  own  pecuniary  profit,  will  not  long  be  suf- 
fered, under  the  sanction  of  law,  thus  to  burden  the  community. 

Of  3000  persons  admitted  to  the  workhouse  in  Salem,  Mass.,  the 
superintendent  states,  that  in  his  opinion  2900  were  brought  there 
directly  or  indirectly  by  intemperance.  The  superintendent  of  the 
almshouse  in  New  York  states,  that  the  number  of  male  adults  in 
the  house  is  572,  of  which  there  are  not  20  that  can  be  called  so- 
ber men;  that  the  number  of  females  is  601,  and  that  he  doubts 
whether  there  are  50  of  them,  that  can  be  called  sober  women. 

In  the  city  of  Boston,  for  six  years,  there  were  upon  an  average, 
247  commitments  annually  to  a  single  prison,  for  drunkenness  ;  and 
95  drunkards  were  committed  to  the  penitentiary,  in  a  single  month. 

A  distinguished  jurist  in  the  city  of  New  York,  acquainted  with 
the  courts,  stated,  that  he  could  find   but  three   cases  of  murder 


291]  SIXTH    REPORT.— 1S33.  65 

committed  in  that  city  for  fifteen  years,  except  under  the  influence 
of  liquor.  Legislators  hang  murderers,  and  license  the  business 
that  makes  them  ;  but  not  without  becoming,  if  they  know  what 
they  do,  sharers  in  the  guilt.  They  expend  millions  to  prevent 
disease,  and  license  the  business  which  produces  it,  and  renders  it 
doubly  fatal ;  but  not  without  being  accessory  to  the  consigning  of 
multitudes  to  a  premature  grave,  and  a  miserable  eternity. 

Is  it  not  true  then,  and  may  not  long  afflicted  and  suffering  hu- 
manity lift  up  her  head  with  exultation,  that  the  time  is  approach- 
ing, when,  in  the  language  of  the  chancellor  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  "  reflecting  men  will  no  more  think  of  erecting  and  renting 
grogshops  as  a  means  of  gain,  than  they  would  now  think  of  poi- 
soning the  well  from  which  a  neighbor  obtains  water  for  his  family ; 
or  arming  a  maniac  to  destroy  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  those 
around  him?"  And  may  we  not  add,  when  reflecting  legislators 
too,  will  no  more  think  of  sanctioning  the  one  by  law,  than  they 
would  now  think  of  sanctioning  the  other  ?  And  when  there  shall 
not  be  a  christian  legislator  under  heaven,  whose  countenance 
would  not  turn  pale,  and  whose  tongue  would  not  cleave  to  the 
roof  of  his  mouth,  should  he  attempt  to  speak  in  favor  of  it.  In 
the  city  of  Washington,  the  revenue  from  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit 
was  about  $6000  ;  and  the  loss,  as  estimated  by  Judge  Cranch, 
occasioned  by  it,  was  probably  not  less,  all  things  considered,  than 
$100,000.  Revenue  then  does  not  require  the  sale  of  ardent 
spirit.* 

But  it  is  said,  and  grave  legislators  sometimes  echo  the  declar- 
ation, "  It  ought  to  be  licensed,  and  the  use  of  it  encouraged,  to  make 
a  market  for  the  coarse  grains,  in  order  to  promote  the  agricultural 
interests  of  the  country."  But  where  the  drinking  of  spirit  prevails 
most,  agriculture,  other  things  being  equal,  uniformly  flourishes 
least ;  and  thus,  like  every  show  of  argument  on  that  side,  it  is  to- 
tally opposed  to  facts  ;  as  well  as  to  reason,  religion,  morality, 
patriotism,  and  even  to  humanity. 

Many  grain  growers  will  not  now  sell  to  distillers.  They  deem 
it  a  crime  to  feed  those  fountains  of  death,  yet  their  grains  find  a 
market,  and  they  are  often  among  the  most  prosperous  men  in  their 
vicinity.  It  does  not  appear,  that  any  more  dismal  prospect  than 
that  of  others,  is  opening  before  their  children. 

In  the  year  1810  it  was  estimated  that  between  five  and  six 
million  bushels  of  grain  were  distilled  in  the  United  States.  Sup- 
pose in  20  years  it  was  doubled,  and  that  in  1830,  12,000,000 
bushels  were  thus  destroyed  ;  and  that  this,  to  the  growers  who  of 
course  obtained  their  pay,  was  worth  50  cts.  a  bushel,  $6,000, 000. 
The  annual  cost  of  crime  and  of  pauperism  produced  by  the  use 


6* 


Appendix  H. 


66  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [292 

of  ardent  spirit  has  been  estimated  at  $7,050,000.  Subtract  from 
this  tli2  price  of  the  grain,  and  you  have  from  these  two  items 
alone,  a  loss  of  $1,500,000.  Say  the  Committee  of  the  New 
York  State  Society,  "  Since  the  farmers  have  begun  to  open  their 
eves  to  the  evils  growing  out  of  the  turning  of  the  staff  of  life  into 
a  substance  to  destroy  it,  and  have  made  use  of  their  coarse  grains 
for  bread  stuffs,  or  to  feed  their  cattle,  they  have  steadily  advanced 
in  price."  And  they  calculate  that  the  change  produced  by  the 
Temperance  Reformation,  now  saves  the  State  of  New  York  sev- 
eral million  dollars  a  year. 

Let  all  farmers  use  their  grains  to  increase  the  number  and  value 
of  their  horses,  cattle  and  hogs ;  not  to  diminish  the  number  and 
value  of  men,  and  they  will  find  it  to  be,  to  themselves  and  their 
country,  great  gain. 

Others  say,  "  The  object  of  licensing  is  not  to  encourage  the 
sale  and  use  of  spirit,  but  to  restrain  and  prevent  it."  To  this  there 
are  two  answers.  The,  first  is,  it  does  not  restrain  and  prevent  it. 
It  has  been  tried  effectually,  for  more  than  half  a  century ;  and  its 
fruits  have  been  manifested  in  the  living  wretchedness,  and  in  the 
dying  agonies  of  more  than  a  million  of  men.  Notwithstanding  all 
such  restraints  and  preventions,  the  evil  constantly  increased,  till  it 
had  well  nigh  proved  our  ruin.  The  other  answer  is,  the  licensing 
of  sin  is  not  the  way  to  prevent  or  restrain  it.  hut  it  is  tlie  way  to 
sanction  and  perpetuate  it ;  by  declaring  to  the  community  that,  if 
practised  legally,  it  is  right ;  and  thus  preventing  the  efficacy  of 
truth  and  facts  in  producing  the  conviction  that  it  is  ivrong. 

But  says  one,  "  By  saying  that  none  except  respectable  men 
shall  sell  ardent  spirit,  and  they  only  in  limited  numbers,  we  do 
not  say  that  for  them  to  sell  it,  is  right.  Would  a  law  which  should 
forbid  men  to  ride  horseback,  upon  worldly  business,  on  the  Sab- 
bath, be  saying,  or  would  it  imply,  that  for  them  to  journey  on  that 
day  for  such  a  purpose  on  foot  would  be  right  ?"  Suppose  it  would 
not ;  but  suppose  also  that  legislators  should  go  farther,  and  make 
a  law,  that  as  many  as  the  public  good  should  require,  and  should 
pay  a  dollar,  should  have  a  legal  right  to  travel  in  that  way,  on 
worldly  business,  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  that  certain  men  should  be 
appointed  actually  to  license  a  number  in  every  neighborhood  for 
that  purpose,  and  should  license  them,  notwithstanding  all  reasons 
and  remonstrances  against  it ;  would  it  not  be  saying,  and  by  the 
whole  weight  of  legislation,  in  opposition  to  truth,  that  it  is  morally 
right  for  those  men  to  travel  as  the  law  prescribes  ?  or  else,  that 
legal  right  and  moral  right  are  in  this  case,  in  opposition?  And 
would  it  not  be  declaring  also,  in  opposition  to  truth,  that  the 
public  good  requires  this  ?  and  thus  tend  to  increase  the  difficulties, 
by  moral  means,  of  convincing  men  that  it  is  wicked  ?  Who  can 
doubt  but  that  it  would  operate,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  case 


293]  sixth  report. — 1833.  67 

must  operate  in  this  manner  ?  So  with  the  laws  that  sanction  and 
approbate  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  imply  that  the  public  good 
requires  it.  They  teach  a  falsehood  j  not  in  time  past  understood 
and  designed  by  legislators,  but  on  that  account,  none  the  less  false. 
Nor  did  their  ignorance,  and  that  of  the  community  in  those  days 
of  darkness,  hinder  its  desolating  effects. 

"  The  law,"  says  Judge  Piatt,  "  which  licenses  the  sale  of  ardent 
spirits,  is  an  impediment  to  the  Temperance  Reformation.  When- 
ever public  opinion  and  the  moral  sense  of  our  community  shall  be 
so  far  corrected  and  matured  as  to  regard  them  in  their  true  light, 
and  when  the  public  safety  shall  be  thought  to  require  it,  dramshops 
will  be  indictable,  at  common  law,  as  public  nuisances." 

Suppose  a  law  should  be  enacted  providing  that  none  should 
counterfeit  the  public  coin,  or  be  authorised  to  pass  counterfeit 
money,  in  small  quantities,  except  men  of  a  certain  character  ;  and 
that  no  more  of  them  should  be  permitted  to  do  this,  than  certain 
other  men,  who  might,  or  might  not  be  interested  in  its  circulation, 
should  judge  would  be  for  the  public  good ;  and  that  they  should 
not  be  authorised  to  pass  it  to  drunkards,  as  it  might  injure  them, 
would  it  not  be  saying,  that  for  those  men  to  do  it,  as  the  law  pre- 
scribes, is  right  ?  Would  it  not  present  a  mighty  barrier  in  the 
way  of  convincing  them,  by  moral  means,  that  it  is  wrong  ?  And 
suppose,  in  some  rare  cases,  the  license  should  be  withheld  from 
those  who  had  passed  it  to  drunkards,  would  that  prevent  the  mis- 
chief? Apply  this  principle  to  any  other  vice.  And  that  it  does 
apply  with  all  its  force  to  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink, 
which  tends  only  to  injure  mankind,  is  most  manifest. 

But  says  another,  If  you  do  not  license  men  of  conscience  to  sell 
it,  men  of  no  conscience,  in  such  great  numbers,  will  sell  it,  that 
the  evil  will  be  overwhelming.  But  it  is  not  necessary  to  license 
counterfeiters  to  prevent  the  community  from  being  deluged  with 
base  coin.  It  is  not  necessary  to  license  gamblers,  or  swindlers,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  community  from  being  overwhelmed  with  their 
mischief.  No  more  is  it  needful  to  license  men  to  sell  ardent  spirit. 
If  wicked  men,  in  opposition  to  the  influence  of  moral  means,  will 
prosecute  a  wicked  business,  which  corrupts  our  youth,  wastes  our 
property,  and  endangers  our  lives;  die  community,  in  this  free  coun- 
try, this  land  of  liberty,  have  the  power  and  the  right,  without 
licensing  iniquity,  to  defend  themselves  from  its  evils.  This  opens 
the  door,  and  the  only  door,  which  truth  and  duty  ever  open  for 
legislation  with  regard  to  sin;  not  to  license  and  sanction  it,  but 
to  defend  the  community  from  its  mischiefs  ;  and  in  such  a  manner 
as  is  best  adapted  to  deter  the  wicked  from  transgression,  and 
promote  as  far  as  practicable  their  good  and  the  good  of  the  com- 
munity. And  this  is  the  change  in  legislation  with  regard  to  the 
sin  of  trafficking  in  ardent  spirit,  which  the  cause  of  temperance,  of 


68  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  ("294 

patriotism,  of  virtue,  and  of  God,  now  imperiously  demands.  Treat 
this  vice,  as  other  vices  are  treated,  and  there  will  be  no  difficulty 
in  branding  it  with  infamy. 

Let  legislators,  chosen  by  the  people  and  respectable  in  society, 
license  any  sin,  and  it  tends  to  shield  that  sin  from  public  odium ; 
and  to  perpetuate  it,  by  presenting  for  it  a  legal  justification.  "  He 
thai  justifieth  the  wicked,  and  he  that  condemneth  the  just ;  even 
they  both  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord." 

Let  all  sanctioning  by  law  of  this  abominable  traffic  be  forever 
abandoned  ;  and  if  the  rising  indignation  of  a  deeply  injured,  and 
long  suffering  community  does  not  sweep  it  away,  and  men  are 
still  found  base  enough  to  continue  to  scatter  the  estates  of  their 
neighbors,  to  fill  our  almshouses  with  paupers  and  our  penitentiaries 
with  convicts,  to  make  wives  more  than  widows,  and  children  doubly 
orphans  ;  to  decoy  our  youth,  and  sink  them  to  a  premature  and 
an  ignominious  grave. — the  people,  if  they  choose,  by  the  arm  of 
legislation  can  undertake  the  holy,  righteous,  and  indispensable 
work  of  self defence.  And  as  all  political  power  is  in  their  hands, 
it  will  be  found  to  be  a  work  which  is  practicable.  The  wisdom 
of  legislators  chosen  without  the  aid  of  ardent  spirit,  and  the  pa- 
triotism of  statesmen  who  do  not  use  it,  or  rely  upon  it  for  sup- 
port ;  but  who  rely  on  the  righteousness  of  their  cause,  the  good 
sense  and  virtue  of  their  constituents,  and  the  gracious  aid  of  their 
God,  will  be  abundantly  sufficient  to  the  exigency  of  the  case.  If 
necessary  to  protect  our  property,  our  children  and  our  lives,  and 
there  is  no  other,  or  no  better  way  to  do  it,  hew  perfectly  easy, 
and  how  perfectly  just,  whenever  the  people  generally  shall  desire 
it,  to  indict  at  common  law  the  keeping  of  a  grogshop  as  a  public 
nuisance ;  or  to  provide  by  statute  that  those  who  make  paupers 
shall  support  them  ;  and  those  who  excite  others  to  commit  crimes 
shall  themselves  be  treated  as  criminals.  And  in  die  necessary, 
the  magnanimous,  the  glorious  work  of  legal  self  defence  from  an 
evil,  which,  in  defiance  of  public  sentiment,  of  reason,  religion,  hu- 
manity, and  of  God,  would  roll  over  earth  a  deluge  of  fire,  and 
annihilate  the  hopes  of  the  world,  legislators  may  expect,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  subject  is  understood,  the  united  and  cordial  support 
of  all  good  men. 

The  point  to  be  decided,  to  be  decided  by  legislators  of  these 
United  States,  to  be  decided  for  all  coming  posterity,  for  the  world, 
and  for  eternity,  is, 

Shall  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  he  treated  in  legisla- 
tion, as  a  virtue,  or  a  vice  ?  Shall  it  be  licensed,  sanctioned  by 
law,  and  perpetuated  to  roll  its  all  pervading  curses  onward  inter- 
minably ?  Or  shall  it  be  treated,  as  it  is  in  truth,  a  sin  ?  And  if 
there  chall  in  future,  be  men  base  enough  to  continue  to  commit 
it,  shall  the  community,  in  self  defence,  by  wise  and  wholesome 


295]  sixth  report. — 1833.  69 

legislation,  as  far  as  practicable  and  expedient,  shield  themselves 
from  its  evils ;  and  if  these  evils  must,  through  the  wickedness  of 
men,  continue  to  exist,  let  them  fall  as  leniently  as  the  public  safety 
will  permit,  alone  on  the  heads  of  their  authors  ?* 

On  the  decision  of  this  question,  to  a  great  extent,  hangs  the 
endless  destiny  of  countless  millions.  In  England,  Ireland,  and 
Scotland  ;  Sweden,  Denmark,  and  Russia ;  Germany,  India,  and 
China ;  Africa,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  men  are  now  awaking 
from  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  on  this  subject  are  following  our  ex- 
ample. They  look  to  us,  ask  for  information,  acknowledge  their 
obligations  to  our  priority,  and  cheer  us  onward.  Their  voice  seems 
to  rise  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind,  and  to  cry  from  the  four  quar- 
ters of  the  earth,  Ye  who  were  blessed  with  the  power,  and  heart 
to  be  free,  and  to  commence  the  world's  emancipation,  stop  not,  or 
falter  till  it  is  finished.  Aid  not  by  example,  or  business,  or  laws, 
what  you  labor  to  remove.  Sanction  not,  by  legislation,  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  burden  under  which  creation  has  so  long  groaned, 
and  which  she  is  now  agonizing  to  throw  off.  Cheer  her,  and 
help  her  ;  or  at  least  let  her  have  the  full  benefit  of  her  own  efforts, 
the  efforts  of  her  friends,  and  the  aid  of  her  God  ;  and  through  the 
grace  of  Him  that  worketh  all  in  all,  His  people  shall  be  free,  eter- 
nally free  :  and  the  glory  shall  be  given  to  Him,  to  whom  it  is  all 
due,  forever. 

*  In  1773,  it  was  represented  to  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  that  spirit, 
distilled  through  leaden  pipes,  was  unwholesome,  and  hurtful.  A  law  was  there- 
fore passed  that  no  person  should  use  such  pipes,  and  no  artificer  make  them  for  the 
purpose  of  being  used  in  distilling,  under  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds.  Assay 
masters  were  appointed,  who  were  put  under  oath,  to  examine,  and  prove  to  the 
best  of  their  abilities,  all  pipes  that  were  used  in  distilling,  and  if  any  one  was  found 
to  contain  alloy  of  lead,  or  base  metal,  they  were  to  give  notice  to  the  distiller,  who 
was  forbidden  to  use  it  afterwards,  under  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds.  (Mass. 
Laws.  Vol.  II.  p.  1001.  Boston  Ed.  1807.) 

Why  might  they  not  use  leaden  pipes,  if  they  were  cheaper  than  others,  and  by 
using  them  they  would  make  more  money  ?  Because  they  were  injurious  to  health, 
and  endangered  men's  lives.  They  were  therefore  forbidden  to  use  them  under 
penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds.  But  what  was  the  injury  done  to  health,  and  what 
the  loss  of  human  life,  by  the  use  of  leaden  pipes,  compared  with  that  occasioned 
by  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  ?  And  shall  legislators  forbid  the  one,  and  license  the 
other  ?  Can  they  continue,  after  the  poisonous  nature  and  destructive  effects  of 
ardent  spirit  are  known,  to  license  the  sale  of  it  without  great  guilt  ?  If  they  do 
continue  to  do  it,  will  they  not,  at  the  divine  tribunal,  and  ought  they  not  at  the  bar 
of  public  opinion,  to  be  held  responsible  for  its  effects  ? 

Let  the  people,  who  have  long  been  suffering  its  destructive  effects;  judge. 

22 


APPENDIX. 


A.     (P.  7.) 

Extracts  from  the  Speech  of  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq. 
After  spending  a  few  minutes  upon  other  and  preliminary  top- 
ics, Mr.  Smith  proceeded  to  say,  that  he  was  aware,  that  the 
American  Temperance  Society,  on  account  of  its  censures  of  the 
manufacturer  and  vender  of  ardent  spirit,  had  been  charged  with 
a  departure  from  its  original  object,  and  a  violation  of  its  consti- 
tution. He  admitted,  that  a  grand  object  within  the  scope  of  the 
constitution  and  labors  of  the  Society,  is  that  of  bringing  our  fel- 
low men  to  refrain  from  drinking  ardent  spirit;  but  he  did  not  see 
why  in  addition  to  the  direct  efforts  made  for  the  accomplishment 
of  this  object,  we  might  not  also  seek  to  remoie  the  hinderances 
to  this  accomplishment.  Now,  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  ar- 
dent spirit  constitute  confessedly  a  very  great  hinderance  to  the 
work  of  inducing  our  fellow  men  to  quit  the  drinking  of  it;  and 
this  hinderance  the  Society  very  naturally  and  reasonably  labors 
to  remove.  Could  a  Society,  that  should  require  its  members  to 
abstain  from  purchasing  lottery  tickets,  be  expected  to  preserve 
silence  on  the  subject  of  lottery  offices?  Could  a  Society,  formed 
to  discountenance  gambling  at  cards  or  billiards,  be  expected  to 
look  with  unconcern  on  the  allurements  of  gambling  houses  ?  No 
more  can  a  Society,  formed  to  dissuade  men  from  drinking  ardent 
spirit,  look  with  indifference  on  the  attractions  and  snares  of  the 
rum  shop.  As,  in  the  one  case,  the  lottery  office  and  the  gam- 
bling house  irresistibly  invite  thousands  to  purchase  tickets,  and 
to  stake  their  money  at  cards  or  billiards,  who,  but  for  their  sight 
of  these  resorts,  would  never  have  fallen  into  this  folly;  so  is  it 
in  the  other,  that  men  drink  ardent  spirit,  because  of  the  inviting 
facilities  for  getting  it,  and  so  is  it,  that  whilst  these  facilities  ex- 
ist, our  direct  efforts  to  promote  total  abstinence  will  be  measur- 
ably, if  not  fatally  counteracted  by  them.  Such  views  we  must 
certainly  admit  to  be  just,  unless  we  deny  what  the  bible  and  our 
hearts  and  our  observation  teach  us  about  the  power  of  tempta- 
tion. *  *  * 

One  view  of  this  business,  and  on  which  its  advocates  lay  great 
stress,  is,  that  it  employs  a  great  amount  of  labor,  and  forms  no 
inconsiderable  item  in  the  industry  of  the  nation.  It  is  true,  that 
it  does  so.  But,  instead  of  crediting  the  business  with  any  thing 
on  this  account,  we  bring  up  its  employment  of  ten  thousands  of 
our  citizens  as  a  strong  argument   against  it;   for  their  employ- 


301]         SIXTH  REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  75 

ment  is  upon  an  object  utterly  valueless.  I  am  aware,  that  the 
notion  is  somewhat  prevalent  amongst  us,  (I  believe  we  are  in- 
debted to  European  political  economists  for  it),  that  the  employ- 
ment of  labor  by  government  or  by  wealthy  individuals,  even  if 
it  be  upon  an  object  absolutely  worthless,  is  nevertheless  a  praise- 
worthy liberality  and  of  general  benefit.  The  doctrine,  in  my 
view,  is  unsound  at  all  times  and  every  where.  But,  even  if  it 
could  be  sustained  in  its  application  to  one  of  the  densely  peopled 
states  of  Europe,  how  plainly  inapplicable  is  it  to  our  own  coun- 
try, where  population  is  sparse,  and  the  demand  for  labor  for 
useful  objects  great  and  incessant.  But,  if  we  cannot  spaue  la- 
bor for  objects,  our  only  objection  to  which  is  that  they  are  use- 
less, how  can  we  justify  its  diversion  to  objects  not  only  perfectly 
useless,  but  as  pernicious  as  useless? — And  it  is  surely  too  late 
to  deny  that  this  character  belongs  to  the  distillation  and  sale  of 
ardent  spirit.  The  proposition,  that  the  thousands  of  farmers  and 
manufacturers  and  venders  in  our  country,  who  are  engaged  in 
ministering  to  the  filthy  appetite  of  the  drinkers  of  ardent  spirit, 
should  relinquish  their  business,  and  employ  their  time  and  cap- 
ital in  bringing  common  stones  from  the  Rocky  mountains  to  scat- 
ter over  the  Union,  could,  as  easily  as  their  present  business,  be 
defended  by  the  political  economist.  And  to  go  a  step  farther, 
and  to  bring  into  view  the  pernicious  properties  as  well  as  the 
worthlessness  of  ardent  spirit;  if  these  persons  were  to  bring 
loads  of  venomous  serpents,  instead  of  stones,  to  scatter  over  our 
whole  land,  they  could  be  justified  as  easily  for  such  strange 
work,  as  they  can  be  for  their  present  business;  and  to  extend 
the  parallel  still  further — if  each  of  these  serpents  were  armed 
with  mortal  stings,  as  well  for  the  soul  as  for  the  body,  then  would 
such  strange  work  still  more  closely  resemble  their  present  busi- 
ness. *  *  * 

There  is  one  consideration,  which  shows  conclusively,  that 
this  business  of  making  and  selling  ardent  spirit  does  not  aug- 
ment the  wealth  of  the  nation.  We  not  only  drink  nearly  all  we 
manufacture,  but  we  buy  largely  of  other  nations  to  answer  the 
demands  of  our  rum  thirst.  If  we  manufactured  spirit  for  other 
nations,  as  we  grow  tobacco  for  them,  worthless  as  are  both  the 
poisons,  and  clearly  as  they  both  should  be,  and  yet  will  be,  on 
every  Christian's  list  of  contraband  goods;  we  might,  perhaps, 
in  that  case,  find  the  business  more  profitable;  but  we  drink  them 
ourselves;  and  therefore  whatever  is  gained  from  the  business  by 
any  individuals  amongst  us  is  gained  from  the  pockets  of  their 
countrymen.  The  vender,  who  sells  to  his  rum  drinking  neigh- 
bor a  gallon  of  spirit,  gets,  it  may  be,  his  profit  of  a  shilling;  but 
that  shilling  and  the  whole  residue  of  the  cost  are  so  much  loss 
to  his  neighbor.  Would  that  this  covered  the  whole  loss  of  the 
unhappy  man,  who  drinks  it!  That  one  gallon,  it  may  be,  drowns 
his  soul  in  perdition!  *  *  * 

As  things  now  are,  every  nine  sober  men  in  this  nation  are  bur- 


76  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [302 

dened  with  the  partial  or  entire  maintenance  of  a  drunkard ;  for 
every  tenth  man  is  a  drunkard;  and  drunkard  and  pauper,  as  we 
know,  are  well  nigh  interchangeable  terms.  And  not  only  are 
the  sober  charged  with  the  maintenance  of  the  drunkard,  but  their 
contributions  to  public  objects  are  greatly  increased  by  the  gen- 
eral inability  of  the  drunkard  to  contribute  to  them.  For  in- 
stance, are  there  churches,  school-houses,  colleges,  academies, 
roads,  bridges  to  be  built?  ministers  of  the  gospel  and  school 
teachers  to  be  supported?  taxes  to  be  paid?  then  the  nine  have 
to  represent,  and  to  pay  for,  the  ten. 

All  admit,  that  a  dense  population  is  very  important,  if  not  in- 
deed indispensable,  to  the  success  of  manufactures.  How  great- 
ly, therefore, would  this  interest  suffer  in  our  country  by  the  loss 
of  one  tenth  or  one  twentieth  of  our  families?  But  this  loss  has 
virtually  taken  place.  Drunkenness  has  disabled,  has  struck 
down,  this  proportion  of  our  families;  and,  instead  of  contribut- 
ing to  our  national  industry,  they  are  heavy  drawbacks  on  it. 
Now  the  magic,  that  would  convert  our  300,000  drunken  men 
into  300,000  sober  men,  would  do  more  for  the  wealth,  not  to 
speak  of  the  other  valuable  interests  of  our  country — would  ex- 
ert more  powerful  and  happier  influences  upon  all  the  sources  of 
our  economical  as  well  as  moral  prosperity — than  the  imagina- 
tion can  conceive.  Total  abstinence  is  this  magic.  Banish  ar- 
dent spirit  from  the  land,  and  this  mighty  and  blessed  change  is 
wrought. 

But  the  farmer  says — "  I  could  not  get  as  high  prices  for  my 
corn  and  rye,  if  the  distilleries,  that  are  now  my  best  market  for 
them,  were  broken  up;"  and  a  present  and  definite  gain  out- 
weighs in  his  mind  the  indirect  and  more  distant,  and  therefore 
but  partially  credited  losses,  which  he  suffers  by  distilleries.  But 
this  present  and  definite  gain  is  unreal.  Break  up  the  distille- 
ries; let  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  cease;  and  no  small  propor- 
tion of  the  money,  now  expended  for  the  poison,  would  go  into 
the  farmer's  pocket,  in  exchange  for  his  bread  stuffs,  meats, 
butter,  cheese,  &c.  * 

There  is  one  stubborn  fact  opposed  to  the  supposition,  that  the 
manufacture  of  whiskey  increases  the  prices  of  grain.  In  no 
state  in  the  Union  has  the  Temperance  Reformation  been  carried 
t.o  a  greater  extent  than  in  New  York.  A  very  large  proportion 
of  the  distilleries  in  it  have  been  abandoned.  Thousands  of  her 
citizens  have  relinquished  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit.  Nearly  half 
a  million  of  her  citizens  have  conscientiously  sealed  up  their  lips 
against  the  deadly  drink;  and  yet  the  prices  of  coarse  grains 
within  her  limits  have  not  fallen.  So  far  from  their  having  fallen, 
they  have  been  higher  during  the  last  five  years,  or  period  of  the 
Temperance  Reformation,  than  they  had  been  during  any  equal 
period  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  if  we  except  the  five  years 
immediately  following  1812,  and  comprising  the  time  of  our  sec- 
war  with  Great-Britain.     To  how  large  an  extent  should  the 


303J  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  77 

farmers  of  New- York  ascribe  their  present  unexampled  thrift  to 
the  Temperance  Reformation!  *  * 

Among  the  reasons,  by  which  Mr.  S.  urged  the  dealers  in  ar- 
dent spirit  to  discontinue  their  business,  is  the  fact,  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  all  who  engage  in  this  business,  not  to  speak 
of  its  frequently  ruinous  consequences  to  their  children,  become 
poor  and  drunken  in  it.  Mr.  S.  said,  that  it  was  carefully  ascer- 
tained a  year  or  two  since,  that  in  the  country  town  in  which  he 
resided,  there  had  been,  during  the  twenty-two  previous  years, 
exclusive  of  those  remaining  in  the  traffic,  twenty-nine  dealers 
in  ardent  spirit;  that  five  of  them  had  discontinued  the  business, 
without  material  loss  or  gain  in  it;  that  twenty  of  the  remainder 
were  still  living,  but  were  all  poor  and  drunken;  and  that  the 
other  four  had  all  died  drunken  and  poor.  Here,  said  Mr.  S. 
we  have  a  specimen  of  the  legitimate  effects  of  this  business,  on 
those  who  engage  in  it.  Here  we  see  a  business  for  which 
Heaven  has  no  smiles. 

But  say  the  distillers — "  We  can't  afford  to  give  up  our  distil- 
leries. They  are  our  living — the  living  of  our  families — and  we 
must  not  be  urged  to  abandon  them."  We  reply  to  them, 
"  Trust  God.  Betake  yourselves  to  innocent  occupations,  and 
you  will  find  your  bread  and  water  made  sure  in  them."  The 
men  of  Ephesus,  who  got  their  living  by  practising  curious  arts, 
are  an  example  of  self-denial  to  the  distiller.  When  they  felt  the 
hand  of  God  upon  their  consciences,  they  brought  their  books 
together,  and  burned  them  before  all  men;  and  this  too,  notwith- 
standing they  cost  fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver.  Reading  in 
the  Books  of  Chronicles  recently,  said  Mr.  S.,  I  met  with  an  an- 
swer made  to  one  who  was  distrustful  of  Providence,  which  I 
think  is  most  happily  applicable  to  them,  who  hesitate  to  quit  the 
rum  traffic.  Amaziah,  one  of  the  kings  of  Judah,  had  "  hired  an 
hundred  thousand  mighty  men  of  valor  out  of  Israel,  for  an  hun- 
dred talents  of  silver.  But  there  came  a  man  of  God  to  him, 
saying,  O  King,  let  not  the  army  of  Israel  go  with  thee;  for  the 
Lord  is  not  with  Israel.  God  will  make  thee  fall  before  the  ene- 
my. And  Amaziah  said  to  the  man  of  God,  but  what  shall  we 
do  for  the  hundred  talents,  which  I  have  given  to  the  army  of 
Israel?  And  the  man  of  God  answered — 'The  Lord  is  able  to 
give  thee  much  more  than  this.'  So  say  we  to  him,  whose  con- 
fidence for  the  support  of  his  family  still  lingers  on  his  distillery 
— "  The  Lord  is  able  to  give  thee  much  more  than  this."  It 
need  not  be  added,  that  Amaziah  was  blessed  in  his  obedience. 
To  the  farmer  and  manufacturer  and  vender,  who  feel  that  they 
cannot  afford  to  withdraw  from  the  body  and  soul  destroying 
business,  in  which  they  are  engaged,  we  have  this  conclusive 
remark  to  make — "  Whatever  else  you  can  afford  or  cannot  af- 
ford to  do,  there  is  one  thing  certainly,  that  neither  you  nor  any 
other  accountable  beings  can  afford  to  do:  You  cannot  afford  to 
do  wrong."  *  *  * 

7  *  22* 


78  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [304 

The  general  remark,  that  a  people  are  no  better  than  their 
laws,  is  a  just  one;  ibr  not  only  are  their  laws  expressive  of  their 
moral  sense,  but  they  react  upon  it  with  a  strong  influence.  The 
instances  are  without  number,  where  good  men  have  pursued  a 
business  in  all  good  conscience,  from  which  their  virtuous  sensi- 
bilities would  have  shrunk  away  instantly,  had  not  that  business, 
essentially  unjust  and  wicked,  been  commended  to  them  by  the 
sanction  of  the  laws.  How  lamentably  wa6  the  moral  sense  of 
Christendom  blunted  by  the  legalised  traffic  in  human  flesh! 
But  the  laws  came  at  last  to  denounce  the  traffic;  and  how  great- 
ly did  they  help  to  recover  that  sense  to  a  healthy  tone.  We  of 
this  age  look  upon  the  slave  trade  as  fit  for  pirates  only; — and 
why  so? — mainly  because  the  laws  declare  it  piracy.  But  for 
this,  how  small  comparatively  would  be  our  abhorrence  of  this 
trade!  ISow,  the  people  of  this  country  still  look  with  a  partial 
eye  on  the  rum  traffic.  But,  let  the  laws  brand  it,  and  our  chil- 
dren will  look  upon  it  with  an  abhorrence,  rivalling  that  with 
which  we  regard  the  slave  trade. 

Our  laws  are  guilty  of  a  gross  inconsistency  in  upholding  the 
rum  traffic,  and,  at  the  same  time,  suppressing  less  evils.  This 
inconsistency  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  strong  delusions  wrought 
upon  the  public  mind  by  the  custom  of  rum  drinking.  Compare, 
for  instance,  the  very  different  treatment,  which  horse  racing 
and  the  rum  traffic  receive  at  the  hands  of  our  laws.  The  one  is 
very  extensively  interdicted,  whilst  the  other  is  licensed  and  pro- 
tected; and  all  must  admit,  that,  compared  with  the  rum  traffic, 
horse  racing  is  venial  and  harmless.  Indeed,  it  is  rum,  that 
clothes  the  race  course,  and  the  lottery,  and  the  gambling  house, 
and  the  theatre,  with  their  most  horrid  features;  and,  but  for  this 
grand  aliment  of  our  public  vices,  they  would  all  greatly  lan- 
guish, and  soon  die.  Extend  the  comparison  to  lotteries.  The 
laws  are  fast  suppressing  them,  whilst  they  leave  the  rum  trade 
to  flourish;  and  who  will  pretend,  that  the  evil  of  lotteries  is  as 
wide  spread  and  as  malignant  as  that  of  rum  shops!  Mark,  too, 
the  further  inconsistency  of  the  laws  on  this  subject — the  further 
evidence  of  their  partiality  for  rum  sellers.  Whilst  they  punish 
drunkards,  by  posting  them,  by  depriving  them  of  their  property 
and  otherwise,  they  encourage  and  protect  the  men  who  make 
these  drunkards.  Now  why  may  not  they,  who  get  up  lotteries 
and  sell  tickets;  and  they,  who  get  up  the  race  and  introduce 
their  horses,  claim  a  like  indulgence  from  the  laws;  and  that  if 
punishment  must  be  visited  on  their  business,  it  should  fall  on 
those  who  purchase  the  tickets,  and  those  who  go  to  witness  the 
race?  Why  this  difference?  Why,  in  the  lottery  business,  visit 
the  punishment  on  the  seller,  and  in  the  rum  business  on  the 
buyer?  The  general  delusion,  produced  by  the  custom  of  rum 
drinking,  can  alone  account  for  the  difference.  To  this  same 
delusion  must  we  ascribe  the  ludicrous  and  mad  conduct  of  the 
authorities  in  some  of  our  villages   and  cities,  during  the   pesti- 


305]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1S33. APPENDIX.  79 

lencc  the  last  year.  They  would  hurry  in  their  fright  to  abate 
as  nuisances  the  business  of  the  poor  butcher  on  the  one  hand, 
and  that  of  the  innocent  dealer  in  hides  on  the  other.  They 
were  full  of  anxiety  about  these  rills  of  danger;  but  they  thought 
not  of  the  big  stream  of  cholera  and  death,  which  the  sacred  and 
inviolable  grocery,  that  stood  between  them,  was  still  suffered  to 
pour  out  day  and  night. 

How  strange  it  is,  that  the  selfish  interests  of  men  do  not  rise 
up  against  the  rum  traffic,  and  put  it  down  forever.  I  will  use 
language  here,  which  I  have  used  elsewhere.  "In  reference  to 
the  taxes  with  which  the  making  and  vending  of  ardent  spirit  load 
the  community,  how  unfair  towards  others  is  the  occupation  of 
the  maker  and  vender  of  it!  A  town,  for  instance,  contains  one 
hundred  drunkards.  The  profit  of  making  these  drunkards  is  en- 
joyed by  some  half  a  dozen  persons;  but  the  burden  of  these 
drunkards  rests  upon  the  whole  town.  Now  I  ask,  whether 
there  would  be  one  law  in  the  statute  book  more  righteous  than 
that,  which  should  require  those  who  have  the  profit  of  making 
our  drunkards,  to  be  burdened  with  the  support  of  them?" 


The  statements  and  opinions  of  that  distinguished  jurist  and 
philanthropist,  Jonas  Platt,  on  any  of  the  subjects  discussed  in 
the  preceding  Address,  must  command  great  respect.  Judge 
Platt,  in  his  excellent  Address  delivered  on  the  26th  of  February 
last,  before  the  Temperance  Society  of  the  county  of  Clinton, 
N.  Y.  uses  the  following  language: — 

"  It  is  a  lamentable  fact,  that  upon  a  careful  estimate,  it  is 
found,  that  of  the  tavern-keepers  and  retailers  of  ardent  spirits 
in  this  State,  during  the  last  forty  years,  more  than  two-thirds 
have  become  drunkards,  and  reduced  their  families  to  poverty 
and  wretchedness.  Still,  that  class  of  men  oppose  temperance 
societies  with  blind  infatuation!  Let  us  redouble  our  efforts  by 
kind  entreaty  and  friendly  admonition,  to  save  them  from  their 
own  worst  enemies,  themselves. 

"  I  respectfully  submit  for  public  consideration,  the  propriety  of 
repealing  our  statute  for  taxing  and  licensing  the  retailing  of  ar- 
dent spirit.  By  fair  construction,  such  license  and  tax  legalise 
the  traffic,  (so  far  as  the  authority  of  our  legislature  extends), 
and  a  plausible  excuse  is  afforded  to  those  who  now  pay  a  pre- 
mium for  such  legislative  sanction.  This  law  is  an  impediment 
to  the  Temperance  Reformation.  Public  opinion  would  be 
brought  to  bear  with  much  greater  force,  against  the  practice  of 
retailing  this  poison,  if  dram-shops  were  left  unlicensed  and  un- 
sanctioned by  any  statute  regulations  whatever. 

"  In  a  pecuniary  view,  the  tax  on  such  retailers  is  a  policy, 
which  is  '  penny  wise,  and  pound  foolish,'  for  it  is  obvious  that 
the  increased  public  burdens  which  they  occasion,  are  a  hundred 
fold  greater  than  the  amount  of  the  tax. 

"An  agent,  (Mr.  Rodney),  who  was  sent  by  our  government 


80  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [0O6 

a  few  years  ago,  to  ascertain  the  political  condition  and  prospects 
of  one  of  the  new  republics  in  Spanish  America,  states  in  his  re- 
port, that  the  sale  of  indulgences,  or  licenses  to  commit  particu- 
lar specified  sins,  under  ecclesiastical  authority,  was  one  of  the 
principal  sources  of  revenue  in  that  mock-republic .  The  prices 
were  of  course  graduated  according  to  the  degrees  of  criminality 
in  the  act  so  licensed.  No  wonder,  that  with  such  notions  of 
morality,  and  with  such  views  of  political  economy,  our  neigh- 
bors in  the  southern  hemisphere  have  succeeded  so  illy  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  republican  governments.  Whether  the  tax  and 
license  under  our  government,  for  committing  the  sin  of  keeping 
a  poisonous  dram-shop,  bears  any  analogy  to  the  policy  of  that 
southern  republic,  I  submit  to  the  serious  consideration  of  my 
fellow  citizens." 


Substance  of  an  Address  delivered  at  the  sixth  anniversary  of  the 
American  Temperance  Society  in  JYeiv  York,  May  7,  1833,  by 
Wilbur  Fisk,  I).D.  President  of  the  Wesley  an  Universihj,  Mid- 
dletoicn,  Conn. 

It  is  less  difficult  to  convince  the  retailer,  who  has  regard  to 
moral  principle,  of  his  participation  in  the  guilt  of  intemperance, 
than  the  manufacturer  and  wholesale  dealer.  The  former  is  per- 
sonally and  constantly  conversant  with  the  evils  of  intoxication. 
As  the  glass  or  the  bottle  passes  from  his  hand,  it  goes  directly 
into  the  hand  of  him  who  is  ruined  thereby — the  retailer  sees  the 
fires  that  burn  like  Sodom,  in  the  countenance  of  his  customer — 
fires  which  he  has  contributed  to  kindle,  and  the  appropriate  ali- 
ment of  which,  he  is  constantly  furnishing.  Supported  by  such 
arguments,  an  appeal  to  the  retailer,  not  wholly  lost  to  moral 
feeling,  must  have  an  effect.  It  is  on  this  account,  doubtless,  that 
so  many  more  retailers  than  wholesale  dealers,  in  proportion  to 
their  respective  numbers,  have  abandoned  the  traffic.  And  yet 
in  every  possible  correct  moral  estimate  of  the  subject,  the  whole- 
sale dealer  stands  in  precisely  the  same  relation  to  these  evils, 
with  the  retailer.  And  of  this,  if  he  will  look  at  the  arguments 
in  the  case,  he  may  be  convinced.  Let  him  remember,  that 
every  gallon,  which  passes  through  his  hands,  is  destined  to  assist 
in  forming  the  appetite  of  some  moderate  drinker,  or  burn  out  the 
vitals  of  some  miserable  wretch,  whose  appetite  is  already  formed 
— that  the  hogsheads  of  rum  that  float  in  his  vessels,  or  lie  upon 
his  wharves  or  in  his  stores,  are  the  seeds  of  future  diseases  and 
erimes — that  they  go  forth  to  spread  a  physical  and  moral  miasma 
ever  the  land,  and  will  become  the  murderers  of  fathers  and  of 
mothers,  of  wives  and  of  children,  scattering  a  mildew  over  the 
field  of  promise,  and  a  blight  upon  the  bud  of  hope — let  him,  I 
say,  remember  this,  and  if  his  moral  sense  is  not  blunted,  will  it 
Hot  be  pained  ? 

Suppose,  sir,  that  a  dealer  in  this  article,  should  be  informed 
that  there  was  a  gallon  in  one  of  his  tierces  which,  if  suffered  to 


307]  SIXTH  REPORT. 1S33. APPENDIX.  81 

go  out  into  the  hands  of  the  retailer,  would  give  the  finishing 
touch  to  the  formation  of  an  appetite,  which  would  lead  some  de- 
luded wretch  to  ruin;  or  that  it  would  excite  to  the  murder  of  a 
wife  or  a  child, — crimes  which  are  often  committed  through  the 
delirium  of  intoxication, — would  not  a  conscientious  man  empty 
that  gallon  upon  the  wharf,  or  cast  it  into  the  ocean  ?  Nay,  if 
he  could  not  distinguish  the  murderer's  portion  from  the  mass, 
would  he  not  lose  his  whole  stock  before  he  would,  in  this  way, 
become  accessary  to  murder  ?  If  this  same  merchant  can  be 
convinced,  that  his  stock,  united  with  those  of  other  importers  and 
manufacturers,  is  directly  carrying  on  this  work  of  death  all  over 
the  land — that  it  becomes  both  the  occasion  and  instrument  of  thirty 
thousand  suicides  annually — that  it  occasions,  probably,  the  death 
of  twice  that  number,  by  increasing  the  malignity  of  diseases 
which,  but  for  ardent  spirits,  would  not  have  proved  mortal — that 
it  annually  becomes  the  occasion  and  exciting  cause  of  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  civil  crimes  in  these  Uirted  States,  besides 
all  its  other  innumerable  social,  moral,  and  political  evils;  if  he 
could  be  convinced  of  this,  and  be  induced  to  fix  his  attention  on 
these  considerations,  for  but  even  a  few  moments,  would  he  not 
be  constrained  to  renounce  the  traffic,  as  criminal  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  treasonable  against  the  best  interests  of  man?     *     *     * 

I.  The  dealer  is  favorable  to  the  common  use  of  ardent  spirits, 
and  knowingly  takes  measures  to  secure  the'r  consumption. 

But  he  knows  also,  that  their  common  use  is  invariably  followed 
by  intemperance.      Therefore, 

The  dealer  is,  en  the  whole,  favorable  to  intemperance,  and 
knowingly  takes  measures  to  produce  it. 

Permit  me  to  invite  the  dealer  to  suspend  all  irritation  of  feel- 
ing at  the  seeming  uncharitableness  of  the  charge,  and  to  enter 
with  me  into  a  candid  investigation  of  the  argument.  If  it  cannot 
be  sustained,  he  will,  in  defiance  of  this  argument,  go  clear  ;  but 
if  it  can  be  supported,  he  must  give  up  his  claim  to  moral  princi- 
ple, or  give  up  his  traffic. 

I  say,  then,  the  dealer  favors  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and 
takes  measures  to  secure  their  consumption.  His  act  of  selling 
proves  this.  The  liquors,  set  out  for  show  in  decanters  upon  his 
counter  or  on  his  shelves, — the  words  brandy,  rum,  gin,  Irish 
whiskey,  &c,  written  upon  his  casks,  or  upon  his  sign  at  the 
door,  all  most  clearly  show  this.  This  also  is  shown  by  his  pub- 
lic advertisements;  for  these  are  proofs  that  he  wishes  to  sell: 
nay,  he  manufactures  or  buys  for  that  very  purpose.  But  if  he 
wishes  to  sell,  he  wishes  the  consumption;  for  he  well  knows, 
the  moment  the  consumption  ceases,  the  market  is  at  an  end.  If 
he  does  not  wish  for  a  vent  for  his  liquors  through  the  channels 
of  consumption,  by  which  alone  he  can  have  a  market,  let  him 
advertise  in  a  little  different  form  from  his  usual  advertisements. 
I  would  suggest  a  form  something  like  the  following: — 

"  A.  B.  having  increased  his  stock  in  trade,  by  a  late  purchase 


82  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [3G8 

of  choice  liquors,  consisting  of  Jamaica  rum,  French  brandy, 
Holland  gin,  &c.  hereby  respectfully  and  earnestly  recommends 
to  all  his  former  customers  and  others,  to  refrain  from  any  farther 
purchase  of  intoxicating  liquors,  as  he  is  fully  convinced  that  the 
use  of  these  liquors  is  most  pernicious,  and  leads  to  numerous 
and  complicated  evils." 

I  suppose  our  rum-advertising  newspapers  would  insert  such 
an  advertisement  for  their  usual  price.  And  in  this  way,  not  only 
would  our  merchants  and  others,  who  do  not  wish  lo  sell,  be  saved 
the  pain  of  numerous  applications,  but  they  will  also  serve  the 
cause  of  temperance,  by  a  word  of  caution  to  a  portion  of  the 
community  who  most  need  it,  and  who,  perhaps,  would  never  read 
any  thing  on  the  subject  in  any  other  form.  Does  the  dealer 
hesitate  to  advertise  in  this  way?  Then  it  is  because  he  wishes 
to  sell.  But  he  says,  perhaps,  this  would  place  him  in  a  ridiculous 
light  before  the  public.  It  would  indeed;  but  no  more  ridiculous 
than  he  makes  himself  when  he  says  he  does  not  wish  to  sell,  and 
yet  buys,  advertises,  &c.  for  that  very  purpose. 

But,  perhaps,  the  vender  will  say,  he  does  not  wish  to  sell,  but 
he  is  obliged  to  deal  some  in  this  article,  in  order  to  keep  his 
trade  good  in  other  articles;  for  unless  his  customers  can  obtain 
their  spirits  of  him,  they  will  go  elsewhere  for  other  things.  On 
this  account,  therefore,  he  keeps  a  little,  but  does  not  otfer  it  un- 
til asked  for,  nor  advertise  it  on  his  sign,  or  in  the  public  prints. 
This  is  encouraging,  for  it  shows  that  conscience  is  at  work,  and 
will  probably  carry  the  question  in  favor  of  correct  principle  be- 
fore long.  But  to  be  plain  with  such  a  dealer,  we  must  say,  that 
however  we  respect  the  workings  of  moral  principle,  which  has 
led  him  to  this  expedient,  he  has,  it  is  believed,  done  very  little 
yet  to  ease  his  conscience.  His  plea,  reduced  to  plain  and  con- 
cise English,  is  simply  this:  "  I  would  not  sell  ardent  spirits  if  I 
could  make  as  much  money  by  refraining!"  How  far  money- 
making  will  justify  him,  in  a  business  which  he  himself  acknow- 
ledges to  be  of  pernicious  tendency,  I  leave,  for  the  present,  to 
be  settled  by  the  decisions  of  his  conscience,  which  seems  to  be 
disturbed  already;  and  pass  to  notice  some  other  expedients  for 
evading  the  force  of  our  argument. 

The  dealer  may  tell  us,  perhaps,  that  a  wish  to  sell  does  not 
imply  a  wish  for  the  consumption  of  ardent  spirits.  That  it  is  no 
concern  of  his  what  becomes  of  them  after  they  pass  out  of  his 
hands  and  he  gets  his  pay.  Now  it  is  well  known  that  the  sale 
implies  the  use,  and  when  we  know  that  two  or  more  things  are 
inseparably  connected,  it  is  perfectly  absurd  to  say,  we  will  have 
the  one,  and  yet  we  do  not,  on  the  whole,  desire  the  other.  Though 
we  may  not  desire  the  other,  in  itself  considered,  yet  on  the  whole 
we  do  desire  it,  whenever  we  determine  at  any  rate  to  have  its  in- 
separable attendant — as  then  there  can  be  no  market,  and  of 
course  no  sale,  without  the  consumption, — so  a  determination  to 
sell,  necessarily  involves  an  approbation  of  the  use. 


309]  SIXTH    REPORT. — -1833. APPENDIX.  83 

But  the  dealer  may  hope  to  avoid  the  responsibility  of  intem- 
perance still,  by  saying,  that,  though  he  does  desire  the  use  ol* 
ardent  spirits,  he  does  not  thereby  favor  drunkenness,  for  he  does 
not  wish  to  furnish  any  for  the  drunkard;  and  if  he  could  have 
his  will,  the  drunkard  should  not  be  furnished  with  it  at  all.  But, 
in  the  first  place,  it  is  well  known,  if  the  traffic  is  generally  sanc- 
tioned, the  drunkard  will  have  it.  According  to  the  principles  of 
human  society,  it  is  impossible  to  carry  into  operation  one  law  for 
the  drunkard,  and  another  for  the  temperate:  and,  farther,  if  a 
man  will  sell,  and  it  is  practicable  to  make  a  distinction  in  the 
purchasers,  it  should,  by  every  consideration  of  public  good,  be 
the  other  way.  He  who  would  sell  with  the  least  injury  to  com- 
munity, should  sell  only  to  the  drunkard  and  drunken.  To 
sell  to  these,  is  only  to  give  the  finishing  stroke  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  those  already  in  ruins;  but  to  sell  to  the  temperate,  is  to 
take  measures  to  lead  the  respectable  and  useful  to  profligacy 
and  ruin.  If  it  would  shock  the  feelings  of  the  dealer  to  present 
another  cup  to  him  who  is  now  reeling,  and  by  which,  he  who  is 
clamorous  and  troublesome,  and  perhaps  dangerous,  is  put  to  sleep, 
how  much  more  ought  it  to  shock  his  feelings,  to  present  the  cup 
to  a  respectable  and  intelligent  citizen,  by  which  he. may  become 
a  drunkard. 

But  we  will  hear  all  that  the  dealer  can  urge  for  himself.  He 
tells  us  again,  that  though  he  may  be  considered  favorable  to  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  yet  the  conclusion  is  not  just,  that 
"  he  is  favorable  to  intemperance,  and  that  he  knowingly  takes 
measures  to  produce  it."  For  he  does  not  wish  any  man  to  be- 
come intemperate,  and  it  greatly  afflicts  him  to  know  that  any 
one  ruins  himself  in  this  way.  He  does  not  sell  for  the  purpose 
of  producing  drunkenness,  and  therefore  he  is  not  responsible. 

But,  for  what  purpose  does  he  sell?  For  the  gain,  undoubtedly. 
And  does  he  not  sell  with  the  certain  knowledge,  that  drunken- 
ness will  follow?  He  knows  that  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors, 
which  is  implied  in  the  sale,  always  was,  and  doubtless  always 
will  be,  followed  by  intemperance.  Here  let  us  refer  to  a  prin- 
ciple already  laid  down — that  where  two  things  are  known  to  be 
inseparable,  whoever  takes  measures  to  introduce  the  one,  does, 
by  that  very  course,  favor  the  introduction  of  the  other.  He  does 
not  desire  the  other,  in  itself  considered,  but  he  actually  prefers 
the  introduction  of  both,  rather  than  forego  that  which  is  the  direct 
object  of  his  desire.  In  the  case  before  us,  the  dealer  does  not 
directly,  and  for  its  own  sake,  desire  drunkenness,  but  he  desires 
the  gains  of  the  traffic,  and  he  will  sooner  aid  in  introducing  in- 
temperance and  all  its  woes,  than  forego  these  gains.  The  ques- 
tion then  comes  to  this: — Is  a  man  free  from  responsibility,  for  a 
known  wrong  done  by  himself,  on  the  ground  that  he  did  the  act, 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  wrong,  but  in  view  of  his  own  personal 
advantage?  Or,  in  other  words,  to  make  the  case  still  plainer, 
is  it,  or  is  it  not,  a  moral  offence  to  injure  another  for  a  reward, 


S4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [310 

when  the  injurious  act  was  not  done  on  account  of  ill-will  to  the 
injured  person,  but  solely  for  the  sake  of  the  reward!  A  child 
would  be  casuist  enough  to  solve  this  question.  Apply  it  to  some 
cases  in  point.  In  the  well-known  murder  of  Mr.  White,  of  Sa- 
lem, Mass.,  the  murderer  had  no  malice  against  the  murdered 
victim  of  his  cupidity,  he  only  wanted  the  thousand  dollars  that 
was  offered  him  for  the  deed.  Was  he  innocent?  Judas  had  no 
wish  to  take  the  life  of  his  Master,  he  doubtless  hoped  he  would 
escape,  though  he  should  be  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  his  ene- 
mies— at  any  rate,  the  betrayer  wanted  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver. 
Was  Judas  justified?  If  not,  how  shall  the  plea  of  justification 
be  available,  on  a  similar  ground,  in  the  case  before  us?  In  one 
respect,  indeed,  the  case  of  Judas  appears  less  unfavorable  than 
that  of  those  engaged  in  the  rum  trade.  Judas  had  very  good 
ground  to  hope,  that  his  Master,  as  he  had  done  before,  would 
convey  himself  away  by  miraculous  power,  and  thus  he  himself 
would  get  the  bribe,  and  no  evil  would  ensue.  But  no  such  hope 
can  encourage  the  heart  of  the  dealer  in  intoxicating  liquors.  He 
knows,  when  he  pockets  the  gains,  that  it  is  the  price  of  blood. 
As  the  destructive  poison  leaves  his  store,  he  understands  its 
destiny  and  the  fatal  result.  He  needs  no  second  sight,  no  su- 
pernatural spirit  of  prophecy,  to  predict,  that,  through  this  traffic, 
a  thousand  masters  will  be  betrayed,  that  the  sacred  obligations 
of  religion  will  be  violated  in  uncounted  instances;  that  it  will 
turn  men  to  demons,  and  excite  them  to  obscenity,  and  blasphe- 
my, and  murder;  that  it  will  lay  trains  for  the  circulation  of  the 
cholera  and  other  diseases  to  spread  over  the  land,  and  riot  upon 
human  life — that  it  will  fill  the  air  with  groans,  cover  the  earth 
with  blood,  and  plunge  thousands  of  souls  into  the  pit  of  wo.  All 
this  he  knows,  and  yet  because  he  does  not  sell  for  the  sake  of 
these  evils,  but  only  does  it  for  the  sake  of  the  gain,  he  hopes  to 
free  himself  from  responsibility.  Alas!  how  easy  does  the  heart 
that  "  loves  the  wages  of  unrighteousness,"  impose  upon  itself. 
But,  there  is  still  another  way  by  which  the  dealer  endeavors  to 
exculpate  himself.  He  tells  you  that  intemperance  is  not  a  ne- 
cessary result  of  the  sale  and  consequent  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 
Many  use  them  without  injury,  and  others  might  if  they  would. 
The  responsibility,  therefore,  it  is  maintained,  belongs  exclu- 
sively to  each  individual  agent,  who  thus  voluntarily  becomes 
ensnared  and  ruined. 

In  order  to  test  a  question  of  morals,  in  any  specific  case,  it 
sometimes  becomes  necessary  to  see  what  general  principle  of 
morality  is  involved  in  that  case,  and  then  decide  the  question  in 
view  of  this  general  principle — otherwise,  our  prejudices,  and  the 
peculiar  circumstances  of  the  case,  may  mislead  our  judgments. 
The  general  principle  in  the  case  before  us,  must  be  this: — No 
man  is  accountable  for  becoming  the  occasion  of  another's  sin, 
because  the  sinner,  as  a  free  agent,  might  have  refrained  from 
the  sinful  act  if  he  would.     Now,  will  this  principle   bear?     Let 


311  J  SIXTH    REPORT.— 1833. APPENDIX.  85 

us  try  it.  Here  is  a  man  who  keeps  a  store  of  books  and  prints, 
of  most  pernicious  moral  tendency — got  up,  however,  in  a  most 
fascinating  style,  and  by  their  wit  and  elegance  directly  calcu- 
lated to  captivate  and  ensnare  the  minds  of  the  young.  Upon  the 
principle  laid  down,  this  man  is  not  responsible  for  the  mischief 
he  does,  though  scores  of  youths  are  drawn  in  and  ruined.  He 
may  plead,  they  are  free  moral  agents — it  is  not  necessary  they 
should  be  corrupted — if  they  would  only  do  as  they  might,  they 
miirht  improve  their  taste  and  their  style,  and  experience  no  in- 
jury. Would  this  satisfy  the  parent,  whose  child  had  been  ruined 
by  these  pernicious  books?  But  is  the  bookseller  worse  than  the 
rum-seller?  Are  bad  books  more  demoralizing  and  ruinous  than 
intoxicating  liquors?  Let  facts  decide.  Indeed  the  principle 
of  morality  involved  in  this  plea  of  the  dealer,  is  as  wide  from  the 
morality  of  the  Gospel,  as  the  poles  from  each  other.  The  Gos- 
pel not  only  requires  that  we  should  not  put  "  a  stumbling-block 
or  an  occasion  to  fall,  in  our  brother's  way,"  but  demands,  that, 
as  far  as  in  us  lies,  we  should  remove  from  his  path  the  stumb- 
ling-blocks that  another  has  placed  before  him.  "  He  that 
knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him  it  is  sin."  *  *  * 
But  to  settle  this  question  for  ever,  with  all  believers  of  the 
Bible,  our  Saviour  has  told  us  expressly,  that  though  "it  must 
needs  be  that  offences  come,"  yet  "wo  to  that  man,  by  whom  the 
offence  cometh."  Such  is  the  weakness  of  moral  principle  in 
man,  and  such  the  strength  of  depravity,  that  we  cannot  expect 
but  that  men  will  stumble  and  fall.  There  is  a  kind  of  necessity 
in  the  case — that  is,  it  is  the  natural  result,  and  what  might  be 
expected,  especially  if  occasion  is  given;  therefore,  "  Wo  unto 
that  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh."  Will  the  dealer  stand  up  in 
the  face  of  this  denunciation,  and  claim  that  he  is  not  guilty,  be- 
cause the  transgressor  in  any  individual  case,  was  a  free  agent, 
and  acted  on  his  own  responsibility?  He  is  to  blame,  it  is  true, 
for  stumbling — but  the  man  who  placed  the  stumbling-block  in  his 
way,  is  also  verily  guilty.  In  short,  there  is  no  case  in  which  a 
man  will  be  justified  in  doing  what  he  is  well  assured  will  prove 
injurious  to  another,  except  where  the  general  tendency  of  what 
is  done,  is  known  to  be  advantageous  on  the  whole.  Preaching 
the  Gospel,  for  instance,  becomes  an  occasion  of  aggravated  guilt 
to  those  who  reject  it.  But  the  Gospel,  on  the  whole,  is  known 
to  be  advantageous,  and  therefore  it  should  be  preached,  not- 
withstanding, in  some  instances,  it  becomes  "  a  savor  of  death." 
So  governments  founded  on  the  popular  will,  may  often  be  the 
occasion  of  popular  tumults  and  party  strife,  yet  those  govern- 
ments should  be  sustained,  because  they  are,  on  the  whole  ad- 
vantageous. But  here,  and  in  all  similar  cases,  the  morality  of 
favoring  or  opposing  these  institutions,  is  tested  entirely  irre- 
spective of  the  agency  and  responsibility  of  those  who  make  these 
an  occasion  of  injury  to  themselves,  and  purely  on  the  ground  of 
the  g-eneral  tendency  of  these  institutions,  in  their  influence  upon 
8  23 


S6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [312 

human  nature  as  it  is,  and  not  as  it  ought  to  be.  This  is  a  test 
of  moral  action  which  must  be  conceded  to,  by  every  man  of 
common  understanding,  and  of  an  ingenuous  mind — he  cannot 
get  rid  of  it.  Let  us  apply  it  then,  to  the  rum  trade.  Is  this  a 
business  that  works  well  in  practice?  Arc  its  general  tendencies 
good?  We  have  just  heard  clearly  demonstrated,  the  pernicious 
influence  of  this  trade  upon  national  wealth,*  and  it  might  be  as 
clearly  demonstrated  that  it  leads  to  bankruptcy  in  national  mor- 
als— that  it  is  ruinous  to  political  integrity,  to  bodily  health,  to 
social  and  domestic  enjoyment — in  short,  wc  may  say,  that  this 
trade,  in  its  general  bearings  upon  community,  "  is  evil,  and  only 
evil,  and  lhat  continually."  In  this  point  of  view,  it  has  not  a  sin- 
gle redeeming  feature — in  its  whole  aspect  it  is  dark  and  threat- 
ening— in  its  entire  operation,  it  is  most  calamitous. 

Having  examined  the  premises  and  conclusion  in  the  argument 
laid  down,  and  having  patiently  heard  all  the  arguments  the 
dealer  can  urge  in  his  own  defence,  we  come,  it  is  believed,  fairly 
to  the  conclusion, — "  That  all  who  continue  in  the  traffic  of  ar- 
dent spirits,  stand  in  an  intimate  and  criminal  relation  to  all  the 
evils  of  intemperance,  and,  on  moral  principles,  must  be  held 
responsible  for  those  evils."  * 

II.  So  long  as  men,  laying  any  just  claim  to  morality  and  re- 
spectability, maintain  the  right  to  sell  ardent  spirits,  it  will  be 
considered  respectable  and  moral  to  use  them. 

But  it  has  been  seen  already,  that  so  long  as  the  use  continues, 
intemperance  will  continue.     Therefore — 

For  these  men  to  ma'ntain  the  right  of  traffic,  is  to  throw  them- 
selves most  effectually  in  direct  opposition  to  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance. 

If  this  argument  is  sustained,  it  will  follow  of  course,  that  the 
dealers  inthis  article,  are  the  men  chiefly  responsible  for  the  contin- 
uance of  the  evils  of  intemperance,  not  only  because  they  furnish 
the  occasions  of  these  evils,  as  was  seen  in  the  former  argument, 
but  also,  because  they  stand  directly  in  the  way  of  those  benevo- 
lent efforts,  that  might  otherwise  remove  them.  There  are  evi- 
dently two  parties  in  this  business,  the  consumers  and  the  agents. 
The  agents  are  made  up  of  the  manufacturers,  and  those  who,  in 
the  way  of  trade,  facilitate  the  distribution.  JSow  to  those  who 
profess  to  be  moral,  in  both  of  these  parties,  we  say,  You  all 
share  in  the  guilt  of  drunkenness, — the  agent,  because,  though  he 
does  not  drink  himself,  yet  he  furnishes  others  with  the  means  of 
intoxication — the  moderate  drinker,  because,  though  he  does  not 
get  intoxicated  himself,  he  encourages  others  in  a  course  which, 
in  numerous  instances,  as  he  well  knows,  results  in  intemperance. 
So  far  both  are  responsible,  and  neither  can  shift  his  share  of  the 
guilt  on  to  the  other — and  neither  party  can  accomplish  the  de- 
sired reform  alone,  unaided  by  the  co-operation  of  the  other.    On 

*  Speech  of  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq. 


313J  SIXTH  RFPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  87 

this  ground,  therefore,  we  might  safely  rest  the  argument,  that 
those  concerned  in  this  traffic,  are  effectually  opposing  the  tem- 
perance reformation. 

But  the  argument  bears  with  stronger  force  against  the  dealers, 

mi 

than  against  those  who  merely  set  the  example  of  the  use.  The 
dealer  acts  a  more  prominent  and  a  more  important  part — his 
influence  in  respect  to  the  use,  is  more  extended  and  more  irre- 
sistible; and  hence  his  example  and  character  will  take  the  lead  in 
giving  a  character  to  this  whole  business.  So  long  then  as  it  is 
counted  moral  and  reputable  to  furnish  ardent  spirits  for  the  mar- 
ket, so  long  it  will  be  considered  moral  and  reputable  to  buy  and 
to  use  them.  These  agents  therefore,  in  the  manufacture  and 
distribution  are  effectually  screening  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors 
from  the  brand  of  immorality  and  infamy.  *  * 

But  it  is  said,  "  If  I  do  not  sell,  others  will,  and  therefore  for 
me  to  refrain,  will  only  be  to  give  place  to  another,  who  will  ex- 
ercise the  same  influence  that  I  do  in  the  traffic,  and  hence  there 
will  be  no  gain  to  the  cause  of  temperance."  Answer:  You 
know  not  that  another  will  sell  in  your  place,  if  you  renounce  the 
traffic:  or  if  this  should  happen,  your  influence  in  this  matter  may 
have  a  great  influence  upon  your  former  customers,  and  will  no 
doubt  give  additional  strength  to  the  temperance  cause,  in  your 
circle  of  acquaintances;  ami  at  any  rate,  the  new  trader,  that,  in 
this  business,  becomes  your  substitute,  will  not  exert  the  same 
influence  that  you  do,  unless,  like  yourself,  he  have  a  reputation 
for  morality  and  respectability ;  and  if  he  have,  my  argument  is  for 
him  as  well  as  for  you,  and  it  is  expected  he  will  feel  its  force, 
and  refrain  also  from  the  traffic.  "  But  it  is  urged  that  if  all 
respectable  and  virtuous  men  give  up  the  traffic,  it  will  be  worse 
for  the  community  than  it  now  is,  as  the  business  will  then  be  man- 
aged by  unprincipled  men,  and  of  course  in  a  way  much  more 
destructive  to  the  interests  of  the  people."  This  is  the  ground 
on  which  some  dealers  have  thought  it  not  only  allowable,  but 
even  obligatory  upon  them,  to  continue  this  trade.  I  have  heard 
such  men  say,  they  felt  it  their  duty  in  order  to  keep  the  business 
out  of  the  hands  of  bad  men!  !  It  seems  that  this  traffic  is  such  a 
blood-hound  of  destruction  to  our  race,  that  the  leash  should  be 
held  by  the  pure  moralist,  who  will  let  him  on  or  call  him  off, 
"  according  to  laic.''''  He  is  at  any  rate,  a  beast  of  prey,  whose 
appropriate  work  is  to  riot  in  human  blood;  but  then,  in  the 
hands  of  the  moralist,  he  destroys  fewer  it  may  be,  and  these  in  a 
more  decent  style  !  *  *  * 

Let  us  glance  at  this  excuse  in  another  point  of  view.  It  has 
already  been  intimated,  that  every  specific  rule  of  morality,  is 
resolvable  into  some  general  principle.  What  is  the  general 
principle,  on  which  the  excuse  for  this  traffic  is  predicated?  It  is 
this — whenever  there  is  sufficient  ground  for  believing,  that  a  given 
injury  will  be  done  to  the  community  by  somebody,  it  then  ceases  to  be 
a  moral  wrong  for  any  one  to  inflict  that  injury.     Now,  I  grant  that 


88  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [314 

this  is  a  most  extraordinary  moral  maxim  or  principle,  but  if  the 
right  to  sell  ardent  spirits  is  maintained,  on  the  ground  that  some- 
body will  sell,  then  this  must  be  the  rule  which  applies  in  the 
case — a  rule  which,  to  be  discarded,  "  needs  but  to  be  seen." 
How  does  this  rule  correspond  with  the  morality  of  our  Saviour, 
especially  in  that  passage  already  quoted;  "It  must  needs  be 
that  offences  come,  but  wo  unto  that  man  by  whom  the  offence 
cometh."  Here  the  principle  is  most  explicitly  reprobated.  The 
dealer  tells  us  he  sells,  and  becomes  an  occasion  of  offence  or 
stumbling  to  others,  because  it  must  needs  be,  from  the  known  na- 
ture and  practices  of  man,  that  such  occasions  will  be  given  by 
somebody — and  therefore  he  shall  add  nothing  to  the  miseries  of 
the  world  if  he  should  be  the  medium  of  the  offence.  But.  sir,  let 
him  look  at  the  denunciation,  let  it  ring  in  his  ears,  and  sink 
down  into  his  soul — Wo  unto  that  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh. 
In  concluding  the  argument,  I  will  examine  one  other  way  of 
getting  rid  of  this  responsibility — it  is  by  division  and  subdivision, 
until  it  is  annihilated.  We  have  all  heard  of  the  infinite  divisi- 
bility of  matter,  but  never  of  its  possible  annihilation  by  the  pro- 
cess. Our  experimenters  in  moral  philosophy  however,  have 
discovered  that  by  dividing  up  moral  obligation,  to  some  indefinite 
extent,  the  whole  becomes  annihilated.  The  reasoning  runs  thus 
— "  My  individual  sales  will  not  sensibly  affect  the  great  whole  of 
community;  and  if  I  should  abandon  the  traffic,  and  no  one  should 
assume  it  in  my  stead,  this  would  produce  no  sensible  change  in 
the  consumption  and  consequent  evils,  therefore  my  responsibility 
is  nothing."  That  is,  to  translate  this  language  into  plain  Eng- 
lish— "  I  can  do  but  little  either  way,  therefore  my  responsibility 
in  the  case  is  nothing — no  considerable  part  of  the  whole  work 
can  possibly  belong  to  me,  therefore  I  am  not  obliged  to  do  the 
part  that  does  belong  to  me  ! " — Who  does  not  see  that  this  is  as 
bad  morality,  as  it  is  logic?  It  is  by  such  reasoning,  that  certain 
proverbs  have  gained  currency,  such  as — "  What  is  every  body's 
business,  is  no  body's" — "  Public  bodies  have  no  soul  nor  con- 
science." The  truth  is,  however,  what  is  every  body's  business 
is  every  body's — and  if  public  bodies  have  no  conscience  nor  soul, 
they  ought  to  have,  and  each  is  obligated  to  bring  his  share  to  the 
public  conscience;  and  if  he  have  a  correct  individual  conscience, 
he  will  do  it.  He  who  numbers  our  hairs,  and  counts  the  atoms 
of  the  universe,  will,  in  making  out  the  final  retribution,  find  no 
difficulty  in  assigning  to  each  his  proper  proportion.  Not  a  par- 
ticle of  this  obligation  is  lost;  for  public  obligation  is  made  up  of 
individual  obligation,  and  duties  in  common  must  be  discharged 
by  individual  agency.  Hence  each  individual  is  as  much  obli- 
gated to  exert  his  single  agency,  as  if  tbe  whole  work  was  his. 
Whatever  others  may  do  or  not  do,  his  own  individual  account 
will  not  be  affected  thereby;  and  whatever  may  be  the  event  of 
the  common  cause,  he  stands  or  falls  by  his  own  acts.  And  will 
8&y  one  aav  his  oart  of  the  responsibility  is  so   small,  that   he  is 


Sio]  sixth  repoivt. — 1833. — appendix.  S9 

willing  to  meet  it,  fearless  of  the  consequences?  Alas!  the  mar. 
that  says  this,  knows  not  what  he  says.  Is  there  a  dealer  who 
would  he  willing  to  read  the  history  of  his  own  sales,  in  their 
direct  results  and  collateral  bearings:  such  a  history  would  pierce 
his  soul,  and  terrify  his  imagination  with  dark  and  horrid  images. 
The  moral  infection  that  has  been  engendered,  by  his  sales  alone, 
would  darken  the  air  around  him.  He  would  hear  the  sighs  of 
the  aged  parent,  whose  profligate  son  had  brought  down  his  gray 
hairs  with  sorrow  to  the  grave.  He  would  encounter  the  impre- 
cations of  the  more  than  a  widowed  wife,  who,  in  secret  places, 
pleads  with  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  to  avenge  her  wrongs — he 
would  hear  the  sobbings  of  the  more  than  orphan  child — he  would 
hear  the  groans  of  the  pit — the  wailings  of  the  damned.  Who 
could  endure  this  scene?  A  faint  description  of  it  sickens  the 
heart. 

The  merchant  is  in  the  habit  of  calculating  his  loss  and  gain, 
with  great  exactness,  and  the  balance  sheet  will  convince  him  ot 
his  profit  or  loss.  I  will  leave  it  to  him,  to  calculate  the  credit 
side  of  his  traffic,  in  dollars  and  cents — but  let.  me  show  him  as 
definitely  as  possible,  his  indebtedness  on  the  score  of  moral  obli- 
gation. There  are  probably  not  far  from  sixty  thousand  dealers 
in  ardent  spirits,  in  the  United  States — and  perhaps  three  hun- 
dred and  seventy-five  thousand  drunkards.  This  would  give  to 
each  dealer  an  average  dividend  of  six  and  a  fraction.  But  the 
generations  of  drunkards  are  short,  and  a  veteran  dealer  outlives 
two  or  three  generations  of  these  unhappy  and  short-lived  men. 
Hence,  each  dealer,  on  an  average,  who  follows  the  business 
through  life,  may  have  been  instrumental  of  making  from  twelve 
to  twenty  drunkards,  and  of  bringing  them  to  an  untimely  grave. 
These  have  friends  and  families  that  are  made  wretched — they 
spread  around  them  a  moral  pestilence — they  blaspheme  and  fight 
and  murder — and  for  all  these  evils,  as  well  as  for  the  direct  ruin 
of  the  drunkards  themselves,  the  dealer,  according  to  the  forego- 
ing arguments,  must  be  held  morally  responsible.  And  will  he 
risk  or  fearlessly  meet  these  responsibilities?  What  has  he  to 
balance  this  amount  of  debt?  All  that  he  can  show  is  the  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  that  he  has  put  into  his  coffers,  by  the  traffic. 
But  will  money  cancel  moral  guilt,  or  discharge  from  moral  obli- 
gation? What  pecuniary  consideration  would  induce  a  man  to 
share  with  this  xchole  nation,  the  guilt  of  ruining  one  man?  But 
to  feel  the  lashings  of  a  guilty  conscience,  and  to  hear  the  denun- 
ciations of  a  righteous  Judge,  for  the  accumulated  guilt  of  an  in- 
dividual agency,  in  the  ruin  of  so  many— in  sach  a  judgment  who 
can  stand?  Let  the  dealer  strike  the  balance,  and  if  he  finds  thai 
hitherto  he  has  been  doing  a  bad  business,  let  him  abandon  it  for- 
ever. 

8  *  23* 


90  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  ("316 


B.     (P.  28.) 

In  a  law  of  Massachusetts,  passed  March  23,  1833,  it  is  de- 
clared that  any  person  who  shall,  in  violation  of  the  law,  sell  a 
lottery  ticket,  or  knowingly  suffer  one  to  be  sold  in  any  building, 
owned  or  rented  by  him  within  the  Commonwealth,  he  shall  for- 
feit and  pay  a  sum  not  less  than  one  hundred,  nor  more  than  two 
thousand  dollars;  and  that  if  any  one  after  conviction  shall  repeat 
the  offence,  he  shall  be  sentenced  for  every  subsequent  offence  to 
labor  in  the  house  of  correction,  or  in  the  common  jail,  for  a  term 
of  time  not  less  than  three  months,  nor  more  than  twelve  months. 
And  it  is  also  declared,  that  any  person  who  shall  make,  sell,  or 
offer  for  sale  any  fictitious  lottery  tickets  or  part  of  a  ticket, 
knowing  it  to  be  fictitious,  he  shall  be  punished  by  imprisonment 
or  confinement  to  labor  in  the  State  prison  for  a  term  of  time  not 
less  than  one  year,  nor  more  than  three  years. 

The  above  statute  is  founded  on  the  true  principle  of  legisla- 
tion with  regard  to  sin;  not  to  license  it,  but  to  defend  the  com- 
munity from  its  evils.  And  are  not  the  evils  of  selling  ardent 
spirit,  as  a  drink,  a  greater  nuisance  to  the  community  than  the 
evils  of  lottery  gambling?  And  is  it  a  less  sin  for  legislators  to 
license  the  one,  than  it  is  to  license  the  other?  And  do  they  not 
by  licensing  either,  manifestly  corrupt  and  injure  the  community  ? 

It  was  judged  at  one  time,  that  liquor  distilled  through  leaden 
pipes  was  injurious  to  the  health  of  the  community.  A  law  was 
therefore  passed  by  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  that  no  per- 
son should  distil,  or  draw  off  ardent  spirit  or  strong  liquors 
through  leaden  pipes,  under  penalty  of  one  hundred  pounds;  and 
that  no  artificer  should  make  any  pipe  or  lead  for  distilling,  of 
bad  pewter,  or  any  mixture  of  lead,  under  penalty  of  one  hundred 
pounds. 

But  was  the  injury  to  the  health  of  the  community,  occasioned 
by  leaden  pipes,  to  be  compared  with  the  injury  occasioned  by 
ardent  spirit?  and  yet  legislators  forbid  the  one  under  a  penalty 
of  a  hundred  pounds,  and  license  the  other.  Had  leaden  pipes, 
like  ardent  spirit,  caused  over  wide  regions  of  country  more  than 
one  in  five  of  all  the  deaths  among  men;  and  in  the  United  States 
killed  thirty  thousand  persons  in  a  year,  well  might  it  have  been 
forbidden;  or,  in  the  language  of  a  distinguished  jurist,  "  the  sin  of 
keeping  a  poisonous  dramshop,"  been  indicted  at  common  law,  as  a 
public  nuisance.  Of  all  the  public  nuisances  that  now  exist,  pro- 
bably none  are  more  destructive  to  mankind,  than  the  sale  of  ar- 
dent spirit. 


3171  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. — APPENDIX.  91 


C.     (P.  31.) 

Pursuant  to  the  invitation  of  the  American  Tempeiance  So- 
ciety, delegates  appointed  hy  various  Temperance  Societies  in  the 
United  States,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred,  and  from  twenty- 
one  States,  assembled  in  Convention  at  the  Hall  of  Independence 
in  Philadelphia,  on  the  24th  day  of  May,  1833,  "  to  consider  the 
best  means  of  extending,  by  a  general  diffusion  of  information, 
and  the  exertion  of  a  kind  and  persuasive  moral  influence,  the 
principle  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  throughout 
our  country.  " 

The  Convention  was  organized  by  the  appointment  of  the  fol- 
lowing officers,  viz: 

President,  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
Vice  Presidents ,  Roberts  Vaux,  of  Pennsylvania;  John  Tappan, 
of  Massachusetts;  Timothy  Pitkin,  of  Connecticut;  Peter  D. 
Vroom,  of  New-Jersey;  Willard  Hall,  of  Delaware;  John  C. 
Herbert,  of  Maryland;  Joseph  Lumpkin,  of  Georgia;  Wm. 
McDowell,  of  South  Carolina. 

Secretaries,  Mark  Doolittle,  of  Massachusetts;  John  Marsh, 
of  Connecticut;  John  Wheelwright,  of  New- York;  Lyndon  A. 
Smith,  of  New-Jersey ;  Isaac  S.  Loyd,  of  Pennsylvania;  Judge 
Darling,  of  Pennsylvania;  R.  Breckenridge,  of  Maryland  ; 
Daniel  W.' Lathrop,  of  Ohio. 

The  Convention  was  opened  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Brantley  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  Circular  of  the  American  Temperance  So- 
ciety, calling  the  Convention,  and  setting  forth  the  object  for 
which  it  had  assembled,  was  then  read. 

The  room  occupied  by  the  Convention,  not  being  sufficiently 
large  to  accommodate  its  members,  it  was,  on  motion, 

Resolved,  That  Matthew  Newkirk,  James  Gray,  and  Robert 
Earp,  be  a  committee  to  procure  a  more  suitable  place,  and  re- 
port to  the  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  all  committees  be  appointed  by  the  President. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  prepare  and  digest  business  for  the  Convention,  and  report 
such  subjects  as  in  their  opinion  ought  to  occupy  its  attention. 

Resolved,  That  said  committee  consist  of  seven. 

Whereupon  the  following  gentlemen  were  appointed. 

Justin  Edwards,  of  Massachusetts;  Amos  Twitchell,  of  N. 
Hampshire;  Charles  Griswold,  of  Connecticut ;  Edward  C.  Del- 
avan,  of  New-York;  Gerrit  Smith,  of  New-York;  Hugh  Max- 
well, of  New  York;    S.  K.  Talmadge,  of  Georgia. 

Resolved,  That  all  motions  be  committed  to  writing,   and  sub 
mitted  to  the  Standing  Committee,  without  discussion. 

Resolved,  That  members  of  Congressional  and  State  Legisla- 
tive Temperance  societies,  be  invited  to  sit  as  honorary  members 
of  the  Convention. 


92  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  j*318 

Resolved,  That  the  deliberations  of  this  body  be  each  day 
opened  with  prayer. 

The  Standing  Committee  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which,  after  amendment,  were  adopted. 

Resolved,  That  the  Convention  meet  each  day  during  its  ses- 
sion, at  9  o'clock,  A.  M.,  adjourn  at  1  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  as- 
semble again  at  half  past  3,  P.  M. 

The  committee  to  provide  a  place  for  the  meetings  of  the  Con- 
vention, reported  that  they  had  obtained  the  oth  Presbyterian 
church,  in  Arch,  above  Tenth-street,  whereupon  it  was 

Resolved,  That  when  this  Convention  adjourn,  it  adjourn  to 
meet  at  this  place,  whence  it  shall  move  in  procession,  headed  by 
its  officers,  to  the  place  designated  by  the  committee. 

On  motion,  adjourned. 

Afternoon. 

The  Convention  organized  at  the  appointed  hour,  and  in  pur- 
suance of  the  resolution  adopted  at  the  former  session,  proceeded 
to  the  5th  Presbyterian  church. 

The  following  resolutions,  reported  by  the  Standing  Committee, 
were  then  considered,  and  adopted. 

Resolved,  That  no  member  of  the  Convention  be  allowed  to 
occupy  more  than  ten  minutes,  in  the  remarks  he  may  make  be- 
fore* the  Convention  at  any  one  time,  and  that  he  shall  not  be  al- 
lowed to  speak  more  than  twice  on  any  subject  or  question,  "with- 
out in  either  case  obtaining  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

Resolved,  That  notice  be  given  in  the  churches  and  newspapers 
of  Philadelphia,  that  a  temperance  meeting  will  be  held  in  this 
city  next  Monday  evening,  at  half  past  7  o'clock,  for  the  general 
attendance  of  the  citizens  and  others. 

The  Standing  Committee  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  severally  considered,  and  adopted. 

I.  Resolved,  That  in  our  judgment  it  is  the  duty  of  all  men  to 
abstain  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  from  the  traffic  in  it  (') 

II.  Resolved,  That  it  is  in  our  view  expedient,  that  all  who  arc 
acquainted  with  this  subject,  unite  with  temperance  societies.  (2) 

III.  Resolved,  That  we  regard  with  peculiar  satisfaction,  the 
formation  of  the  American  Congressional  Temperance  Society, 
and  express  our  decided  conviction  that,  should  similar  societies 
be  formed  by  the  Legislatures  of  each  State,  they  would  greatly 
benefit  our  country  and  the  world.  (3) 

IV.  Resolved,  That  the  regulations  adopted  by  the  national 
government,  for  discouraging  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  in  the  army 
and  navy  of  the  United  States,  evince  the  wisdom  of  the  rulers 
of  the  people,  and  their  paternal  care  over  the  individuals  em- 
ployed in  their  service.  (4) 

V.  Resolved,  That  the  abolition  of  the  practice  of  furnishing 
merchant  vessels  with  ardent  spirit,  or  employing  men  who  drink 
it  to  navigate  them,  would  greatly  promote  the  interests  of  the 
country,  f5) 


319]  SIXTH  REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  93 

VI.  Resolved,  That  temperance  societies  in  all  mechanical  and 
manufacturing  establishments,  while  they  would  promote  the  pe- 
cuniary interests  of  all  concerned  in  them,  would  also  in  various 
ways,  promote  the  good  of  the  public.  (G) 

VII.  Resolved,  That  the  formation  of  a  temperance  society  in 
each  ward  of  every  city,  and  in  each  district  of  every  county  and 
town  in  the  United  States,  would  tend  powerfully  to  complete 
and  to  perpetuate  the  temperance  reformation.  (7) 

VIII.  Resolved,  That  each  State  society  be  requested  to  take 
the  direction  of  the  temperance  cause  within  its  own  limits,  and  to 
employ  one  or  more  permanent  agents,  to  visit  periodically  every 
part  of  the  State,  and  to  devote  their  whole  time  and  strength  to 
the  promotion  of  this  work.  (8) 

IX.  Resolved,  That  each  family  in  the  United  States  be  re- 
quested to  furnish  themselves  with  some  temperance  publication.  (9) 

X.  Resolved,  That  the  increase  of  temperance  groceries,  pub- 
lic houses  and  steam  boats,  in  which  ardent  spirit  is  not  fur- 
nished, is  highly  auspicious  to  the  interests  of  our  country;  and 
that  the  friends  of  human  happiness,  by  encouraging  such  estab- 
lishments in  all  suitable  ways,  till  they  shall  become  universal, 
will  perform  an  important  service  to  mankind.  (l0) 

XI.  Resolved,  That  it  be  earnestly  recommended  to  all  emi- 
grants who  contemplate  removing  in  a  body  from  foreign  coun- 
tries to  the  United  States,  and  also,  to  those  who  contemplate 
removing  from  one  part  of  our  own  country  to  another,  before 
their  removal,  or  on  their  passage,  to  form  themselves  into  a 
temperance  society.  (u) 

On  motion,  adjourned. 

May  25th.  The  Convention  met  at  the  stated  hour,  and  was 
opened  with  prayer  by  Dr.  Hewitt  of  Connecticut. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  day  were  read  and  approved. 

On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  secretaries  have  power  to  make  such  ver- 
bal alterations  in  the  minutes  and  resolutions,  as  will  best  ex- 
press their  meaning. 

The  consideration  of  the  remaining  resolutions  reported  by  the 
standing  committee  at  the  former  session,  was  then  resumed,  and 
the  following  were  adopted. 

XII.  Resolved,  That  temperance  societies  and  the  friends  of 
temperance  throughout  the  country,  be  requested  to  hold  simul- 
taneous meetings,  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  February,  1834,  to 
review  what  has  been  done  during  the  past  year;  to  consider 
what  remains  to  be  done,  and  to  take  such  measures  as  may  be 
suitable,  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  information,  and  by  kind 
moral  influence,  to  extend  and  perpetuate  the  principles  and  the 
blessings  of  temperance  over  our  land.  (12) 

XIII.  Resolved,  That  a  correspondence  be  opened  with  na- 
tional temperance  societies  and  friends  of  temperance  in  other 
countries,  for  the  purpose   of  procuring,    as  far   as   practicable, 


94  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [320 

meetings  at  the  same  time,  for  the  same  purpose,  throughout  the 
world.  (,3) 

XIV.  Resolved,  That  it  be  recommended  to  temperance  soci- 
eties and  friends  of  temperance  of  every  description,  to  obtain  as 
full  and  accurate  statistics  as  possible,  and  embody  them  for  the 
benefit  of  the  community,  in  the  annual  reports,  and  communicate 
them  at  the  simultaneous  meetings;  especially  on  the  following 
points,  viz. 

What  is  the  population? 

What  number  belong  to  temperance  societies? 

How  many  have  been  added  to  them  the  past  year? 

How  many  have  renounced  the  traffic? 

How  many  groceries  and  how  many  taverns  in  which  ardent 
spirit  is  not  sold? 

How  many  continue  to  sell,  and  what   quantity  is  now  used? 

How  many  drunkards  have  been  reformed? 

How  many  are  now  drunkards? 

How  many  distilleries  have  been  stopped,  and  how  many  are 
now  in  operation? 

How  many  deaths  is  there  reason  to  believe  were  caused  by 
intemperance? 

What  proportion  of  pauperism  and  of  crime,  are  occasioned  by 
strong  drink? 

How  many  criminals  were  convicted  the  past  year,  who  drink 
no  ardent  spirit,  and  how  many  who  do  drink  it?  (,4) 

XV.  Resolved,  That  as  the  sole  object  of  the  American 
Temperance  Society,  and  those  numerous  State  and  other  tem- 
perance societies,  which  have  been  formed  in  accordance  with  it 
throughout  our  country, — ever  has  been,  is  now,  and  ever 
ought  to  be,  the  promotion  of  temperance,  to  this  object  alone 
all  their  efforts  ought  to  be  invariably  and  perseveringly  direct- 
ed.  (») 

XVI.  Resolved,  That  as  the  question  has  arisen  among  the 
friends  of  temperance  and  agricultural  improvement,  what  shall 
be  done  with  surplus  grains,  provided  they  are  not  converted  in- 
to ardent  spirit,  the  friends  of  human  improvements  are  requested 
to  investigate  this  subject,  and  to  present  the  results  to  the  pub- 
lic through  the  medium  of  the  press.  (16) 

XVII.  Resolved,  That  the  prompt  and  united  testimony  of 
many  physicians,  to  the  hurtful  nature  and  destructive  tendency 
of  ardent  spirit,  has  been  a  powerful  auxiliary  to  the  temperance 
cause;  and  should  that  respectable  and  influential  class  of  our 
citizens  all  exert  their  influence  to  induce  the  whole  community 
to  abstain  from  the  use  of  it,  they  would  render  themselves  still 
more  eminently  useful.  (17) 

XVIII.  Resolved,  That  the  medical  profession  be  requested  to 
inquire  whether  substitutes  for  alcohol  may  not  be  found,  and  its 
use  be  dispensed  with  in  medical  practice,  and  to  give  the  results 
of  their  investigation  to  the  public.  (I8) 


321]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  95 

XIX.  Resolved,  That  editors  of  papers  and  other  periodicals, 
who  from  time  to  time  publish  information  on  the  subject  of  tem- 
perance, are  rendering  important  service  to  the  cause;  and  should 
all  editors  adopt  and  pursue  a  similar  course,  they  will  render 
themselves  the  benefactors  of  mankind.  (19) 

XX.  Resolved,  That  the  associations  of  young  men  have  been 
powerful  auxiliaries  to  the  temperance  cause,  and  should  all 
the  young  men  in  the  United  States,  and  especially  in  the  literary 
institutions,  unite  in  temperance  societies,  they  would  render 
themselves  benefactors  to  our  country  and  the  world.  (20) 

XXI.  Resolved,  That  the  influence  of  the  female  sex,  in  favor 
of  the  temperance  cause,  has  had  a  highly  salutary  effect  upon 
all  classes  in  the  community,  and  especially  upon  those  who  are 
the  hope  of  future  generations,  the  children  and  youth;  and  that 
should  the  influence  to  which  they  are  so  justly  entitled,  be 
unitedly  and  universally  exerted  in  favor  of  this  cause,  they 
would  do  much  to  perfect  and  to  perpetuate  the  moral  renovation 
of  the  whole  human  family.  (21) 

XXII.  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  that  the  friends  of  tem- 
perance in  all  countries,  unite  their  counsels  and  their  efforts,  to 
extend  the  principles  of  temperance  throughout  the  world.  (22) 

XXIII.  Resolved,  That  the  fundamental  and  highly  salutary 
influence,  which  the  promotion  of  the  cause  of  temperance  must 
have  on  the  purity  and  permanence  of  civil  institutions,  demands 
for  it  the  countenance  and  active  co-operation  of  every  real  pa- 
triot. (23) 

XXIV.  Resolved,  That  the  influence  of  temperance  on  the 
intellectual  elevation,  the  moral  character,  the  social  happiness, 
and  th,e  future  prospects  of  mankind,  is  such  as  ought  to  obtain 
for  it  the  cordial  approbation,  and  the  united,  vigorous  and  perse- 
vering efforts  of  all  the  philanthropic  and  humane  of  every  class, 
age,  sex,  and  country.  (24) 

On  motion,  adjourned  to  Monday  27th. 

May  21th.  At  the  stated  hour  the  Convention  met,  and  was 
opened  with  prayer  by  Christian  Keener,  of  Maryland. 

The  minutes  of  the  preceding  day  were  read  and  approved. 

Nicholas  Devereaux,  of  New-York,  was  appointed  a  member 
of  the  Standing  Committee,  in  the  room  of  Hugh  Maxwell,  who 
had  left  the  city. 

The  Standing  Committee  reported  that  the  meeting  this  evening 
will  be  addressed  by 

G.  S.  Hillard  of  Massachusetts,  Thos.  P.  Hunt  of  North 
Carolina,  Thos.  H.  Stockton  of  Maryland,  Joseph  Lumpkin  of 
Georgia,  and  Nathaniel  Hewitt  of  Connecticut. 

The  following  resolution,  reported  by  the  Committee,  was 
adopted. 

WJiereas,  It  has  been  announced  that  Henry  T.  Newman,  a  del- 
egate to  this  body  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  So- 


96  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [322 

ciety,   has  arrived   in  this   country,  and   expected  to  be  at  this 
meeting,  but  is  providentially  prevented,  therefore, 

XXV.  Resolved,  That  we  cordially  reciprocate  the  fraternal 
kindness  manifested  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  So- 
ciety, in  the  appointment  of  the  above  mentioned'  delegate,  and 
express  our  earnest  desire  and  hope,  that  the  mutual  confidence 
now  subsisting  between  temperance  societies  in  this  and  other 
countries,  may  be  perpetuated  and  increased,  till  intemperance 
and  its  evils  shall  have  ceased,  and  temperance,  with  all  its  at- 
tendant blessings,  shall  universally  prevail.  (2A) 

The  President  then  informed  the  Convention  that  Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer,  of  the  State  of  New-York,  had  offered  to  defray 
the  expense  of  publishing  100,000  copies  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Convention,  for  gratuitous  distribution;  whereupon  it  was  unani- 
mously 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  presented  to 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  of  the  city  of  Albany,  for  his  liberality 
in  proposing  to  defray  the  expense  of  distributing  100,000  copies 
of  the  proceedings  of  this  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  the  President  and  Vice-Presidents  be  a  Com- 
mittee to  communicate  to  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer  the  foregoing 
resolution. 

The  Standing  Committee  then  reported  the  following  resolution, 
which  was  adopted. 

XXVI.  Resolved,  That  the  formation  within  six  years,  of  more 
than  6,000  temperance  societies,  embracing  more  than  a  million 
of  members;  the  relinquishment  of  the  manufacture  of  ardent 
spirit,  by  more  than  2,000  distilleries,  and  of  the  sale  of  it  by 
more  than  5,000  merchants;  the  banishment  of  the  poison  from 
the  United  States  army,  and  to  a  great  extent  from  the  navy; 
the  sailing  of  more  than  700  vessels,  in  which  ardent  spirit  is  not 
used;  the  hitherto  unparalleled  exhibition  of  more  than  5,000 
drunkards,  within  five  years,  ceasing  to  use  intoxicating  drinks, 
and  becoming,  as  all  drunkards  if  they  take  this  course  will,  so- 
ber men,  and  many  of  them  highly  respectable  and  useful  men; 
and  the  uniform  and  universal  progress  of  the  temperance  refor- 
mation, whenever  and  wherever  suitable  means  have  been  used 
for  its  advancement,  are,  it  is  believed,  facts  which  call  loudly  for 
fervent  gratitude  to  the  Author  of  all  good,  and  for  united  and 
persevering  efforts  on  the  part  of  its  friends,  to  extend  univer- 
sally and  perpetuate  the  temperance  cause. 

A  resolution,  reported  by  the  Standing  Committee,  on  the  sub- 
ject of  a  general  union,  which  was  laid  on  the  table  at  a  former 
session,  was  now  taken  up;  and  on  motion, 

Resolved,  That  it  be  referred  to  a  committee,  consisting  of  one 
member  from  each  State  represented  in  this  bodv. — Whereupon 
the  following  were  appointed  that  committee,  with  instructions 
to  report  to  this  Convention. 

Joseph   C.   Lovejoy,   Maine;    E.  P.  Walton,   Vermont;   Eli 


823]  SIXTH    REPORT. — -1833. APPENDIX.  97 

lyes,  Connecticut;  John  Wheelwright,  New- York;  Isaac  S. 
liOyd,  Pennsylvania;  Christian  Keener,  Maryland;  Ephraim 
Addoms,  Virginia;  Isaac  W.  Waddell,  S.  Carolina;  R.  H.  Ball, 
Kentucky;  Robert  H.  Chapman,  Tennessee;  N.  M.  Welles, 
Indiana;  E.  C.  Trowbridge,  Michigan;  Andrew  Rankin,  New- 
Hampshire;  Mark  Doolittle,  Massachusetts;  b  rederick'A.'  Far- 
ley',"  Rhode  Island;  John  McLean,  New-Jersey;  Thomas 
J.  Higgins,  Delaware;  Wm,  R.  Collier,  District  Columbia; 
Thomas  P.  Hunt,  North  Carolina;  S.  K.  Talmadge,  Georgia; 
J.  Seward,  Ohio;  Peter  Donan,  Missouri;  Enoch  Kinsbury,  Il- 
linois;  Wm.  T.  Brantley,  Alabama. 

The  Standing  Committee  reported  a  resolution  which  was  under 
discussion  to  the  hour  of  adjournment,  when,  on  motion,  the 
Convention  adjourned. 

Afternoon. 

The  Convention  met  at  the  stated  hour,  and  again  took  up  the 
resolution  which  was  before  it  at  the  former  session,  which  was 
adopted  as  follows: 

XXVII.  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  this  Convention,  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  and  the  use  of  it  as  such,  are 
morally  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned  throughout  the 
world.  (2T) 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  resolution  on  the 
subject  of  a  general  union,  reported  that  they  had  unanimously 
agreed  to  recommend  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  as  reported 
by  the  Standing  Committee,  which  was  under  consideration,  when 
on  motion  the  Convention  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Hall  of  the 
Musical  Fund  Society,  this  evening  at  a  quarter  before  8  o'clock, 
in  order  to  lay  before  the  public,  who  have  been  invited  to  as- 
semble there,  some  history  of  the  progress  of  the  temperance 
cause. 

Evening. 

The  Convention  assembled  at  the  time  and  place  appointed, 
when 

G.  S.  Hillard  of  Massachusetts,  Tho's.  P.  Hunt  of  North  Car- 
olina, Tho's.  H.  Stockton  of  Maryland,  and  Nathaniel  Hewitt 
of  Connecticut,  presented  to  a  very  large  and  attentive  audience 
that  had  assembled,  a  brief  but  impressive  history  of  the  tempe- 
rance cause,  together  with  an  exposition  of  the  principles  upon 
which  it  is  established. 

After  an  appeal  to  the  large  and  interesting  circle  of  ladies 
who  were  present,  by  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  President  of  the 
Convention,  setting  forth  the  power  and  extent  of  female  influ- 
ence, the  meeting  proceeded  to  business. 

The  Standing  Committee  reported  that  they  had  no  farther  mat- 
ter to  lay  before  the  Convention;   whereupon  it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  be  now  discharged. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  be  presented  to 
9  24 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [324 

the  Standing-  Committee  for  the  faithful  and  prompt  discharge.^ 
the  duties  intrusted  to  them  by  the  Convention. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  be  presented  to  its 
President,  Reuben  H.  Walworth,  for  the  dignified,  impartial 
^nd  verv' accentahlejflanner  in  which  he  has  presided  over  it8 
deliberations.  ^-^    ._  . 

The  President  then  expressed  his  grateful  sense  of  this  ac- 
knowledgment on  the  part  of  the  Convention,  and  his  satisfac- 
tion in  having  presided  over  its  deliberations,  when  he  withdrew. 

Roberts  Vaux  of  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents, 
then  took  the  chair. 

The  resolution  reported  by  the  Standing  Committee,  and  ap- 
proved by  the  Committee  from  each  state,  was  then  taken  up,  and 
after  amendment,  was  adopted  as  follows: 

XXVIII.  Resolved,  That  the  Officers  of  the  American  Tem- 
perance Society,  and  of  the  several  State  societies,  are  hereby 
requested  to  act  as  a  United  States  Temperance  Society;  to 
hold  mutual  consultations  and  to  take  all  suitable  measures  to 
carry  into  effect  the  objects  of  this  Convention;  to  embody  pub- 
lic sentiment,  and  by  the  universal  diffusion  of  information  and 
the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influence,  to  extend  the  principles 
and  blessings  of  the  temperance  reformation  throughout  our 
country  and  throughout  the  world. 

On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  vital  interests  and  complete  success  of  the 
temperance  cause  demand  that  in  all  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of 
that  cause  against  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  no  substitute  except 
pure  water  be  recommended  as  a  drink. 

On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Convention  be  presented  to 
the  Select  and  Common  Council  of  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  for 
their  kindness  and  liberality  in  granting  to  it  the  use  of  the  Hall 
of  Independence. 

On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  be  presented  to 
the  trustees  and  congregation  of  the  5th  Presbyterian  Church, 
for  the  use  of  their  house  during  the  sitting  of  the  Convention. 

On  motion, 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Convention  be  presented  to 
the  Vice-Presidents  and  Secretaries  for  the  faithful  discharge  of 
their  duties. 

Having  disposed  of  the  various  subjects  that  had  been  pre- 
sented with  great  harmony  and  unanimity  of  feeling,  with  an 
earnest  desire  for  the  guidance  of  God,  and  a  confident  reliance 
on  Him  to  bless  their  efforts  in  the  advancement  of  the  cause,  to 
strengthen  and  animate  them  to  renewed  and  persevering  exer- 
tion, until  the  principles  of  temperance  shall  prevail  in  every  land, 
and  its  attendant  blessings  be  enjoyed  by  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth,  the  Convention  adjourned  sine  die. 


325]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  99 

Reasons  for  complying  with  the  Resolutions  offered  by  the  Committee 
and  adopted  by  the  Convention. 
(')  1.  Temperance  requires  it.  As  temperance  is  the  moderate 
and  proper  use  of  things  beneficial,  and  is  abstinence  from  things 
hurtful,  and  ardent  spirit  is  one  of  the  hurtful  things,  temperance 
with  regard  to  this,  is  abstinence. 

2.  The  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  will  form  intemperate  appe- 
tites; and  if  intemperate  appetites  are  formed,  they  will,  in  many 
cases,  be  gratified.  Of  course,  while  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit 
is  continued,  intemperance  can  never  be  prevented. 

3.  By  the  selling  of  ardent  spirit,  men  teach  that  it  is  right  to 
buy  and  drink  it;   a  doctrine  which  is  false,  and  to  many  is  fatal. 

4.  All  men  would  be  better  without  the  use  of  ardent  spirit;  of 
course  to  drink  it,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others,  is  sin. 

(2)  1.  Because  without  it  men  will  not  receive  so  much  bene- 
fit from  their  example. 

2.  Temperance  Societies  have  been  one  of  the  principal  means 
of  promoting  the  Temperance  Reformation. 

3.  Should  all  persons  join  them,  and  act  consistently,  intem- 
perance to  a  great  extent  would  cease. 

(3)  1.  The  example  of  legislators  has  great  influence  in  the 
community. 

2.  It  would  have  a  highly  salutary  influence  on  legislation. 

3.  It  would  tend  to  promote  the  purity  of  elections,  and  thus  to 
extend  and  perpetuate  the  blessings  of  free  institutions. 

(4)  1.  They  would  tend  to  promote  the  health  and  comfort  of 
the  men. 

2.  To  promote  obedience  to  orders,  and  thus  to  lessen  the 
number  and  severity  of  punishments. 

3.  To  prevent  an  enormous  waste  of  human  life. 

(5)  1.   It  would  promote  the  health  and  comfort  of  seamen. 

2.  It  would  promote  the  pecuniary  interest  of  all  concerned. 

3.  It  would  prevent  many  ship-wrecks,  and  the  loss  of  many 
lives. 

(s)  1.  It  would  promote  the  intellectual  elevation,  the  mora! 
improvement,  and  the  social  happiness  of  the  workmen. 

2.  It  would  improve  the  quality  of  their  work. 

3.  When  they  go  from  one  establishment  to  another,  a  certifi- 
cate of  their  being  worthy  members  of  a  Temperance  Society 
would  be  a  ready  passport  to  business  and  an  important  safeguard 
to  employers. 

(T)  1.  It  would  tend  to  bring  the  subject  before  the  whole 
community. 

2.  It  would  greatly  increase  the  number  and  activity  of  its 
friends. 

3.  It  would  reform  many  who  are  now  drunkards. 

(-)    1.   It  is   the   most   ready  way  to   awaken  universal  atten- 
tion;  and  to  secure  ever-growing  interest  and  effort  in  the  cause. 
2.   It  is  highly  economical  as  to  men  and  money. 


100  AMERICAN"    T3EMPERANCE    SOC1ETF.  [326 

3.  It  is  essential  to  that  thorough  and  systematic  effort  which 
tends  to  the  most  complete  and  speedy  triumph  of  this  cause. 

(9)  1.  Information  is  essential  to  wise,  efficient  and  permanent 
action. 

2.  It  would  increase  especially  among  the  young,  a  spirit  of 
reading. 

3.  it  would,  to  a  great  extent,  give  to  each  part  of  the  country 
the  benefit  of  the  experience  of  all  other  parts,  and  thus  render 
the  efforts  of  all  more  eminently  useful. 

(10)  1.  It  would  lessen  the  danger  of  youth  and  remove  one  of 
the  most  powerful  incentives  to  intemperance. 

2.  It  would  prevent  a  great  amount  of  pauperism  and  crime. 

3.  It  would  greatly  promote  the  temperance,  safety,  and  com- 
fort of  travellers. 

(n)    1.   It  will  lessen  the  dangers  of  their  journey. 

2.  It  will  lessen  their  exposure  from  a  change  of  climate,  and 
from  their  settlement  among  strangers. 

3.  It  will  render  them  a  greater  blessing  to  the  people  among 
whom  they  may  dwell. 

(12)  1.  It  will  awaken  new  interest  and  lead  to  a  great  in- 
crease of  effort. 

2.  It  will  be  a  convenient  time  for  annual  meetings,  and  will 
lead  a  much  greater  number  of  people  to  attend  them. 

3.  It  will  lead  to  a  more  general  development  of  facts;  and 
spread  more  extensively  the  knowledge  of  them. 

(13)  1.  It  is  an  object  of  common  and  universal  concern; 
in  which  the  friends  of  humanity  of  every  sect,  denomination 
and  country  may  unite. 

2.  It  will  tend  to  increase  their  information,  their  efforts  and 
their  success. 

3.  It  will  tend  to  unite  good  men  of  all  countries  in  all  good 
things. 

(u)  1.  It  will  awaken  more  general  attention,  and  develope 
much  valuable  information. 

2.  It  will  greatly  increase  the  interest  and  the  usefulness  of 
the  simultaneous  meetings. 

3.  It  will  lead  to  a  more  thorough  investigation,  and  to  a  moro 
universal  extension  of  a  knowledge  of  facts. 

(15)  1.  It  will  unite  a  greater  number,  and  lead  to  more 
•rcncral  efforts  for  the  promotion  of  the  cause. 

2.  It  will  render  their  efforts  more  efficient,  and  more  suc- 
cessful. 

3.  Without  perseverance,  the  work  cannot  be  completed,  or 
the  benefits  obtained  be  permanently  secured. 

(16)  1.   It  will  show  that  the  distillation  of  grain  is  a  violation 
i   the  true   principles  of  political  economy;    and  a  great  loss  to 

the  pecuniary  interests  of  the  country. 

2.  It  will  show,  that  it  is  a  loss  to  the  grain-growers  them- 
selves;  and  tends  to  the  injury  and  ruin  of  their  children. 


327]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  10! 

3.  That  to  encourage  distillation  is  to  be  accessory  to  enor- 
mous injustice  toward  the  community. 

(i;)  1.  From  the  nature  of  their  profession,  their  opinions 
on  this  subject  must  have  great  weight  with  the  community. 

2.  They  enjoy  peculiar  facilities  for  acquiring  information  on 
this  subject,  and  circulating  the  truth. 

3.  Their  example  will  have  a  powerful  influence  on  gentlemen 
in  the  other  professions,  and  in  all  the  higher  walks  of  life. 

(lS)  1.  The  prescription  of  ardent  spirit  as  a  medicine, 
has  often  been  the  means  of  forming  intemperate  appetites,  and 
of  leading  to  drunkenness  and  ruin. 

2.  Many  eminent  physicians  now  entirely  dispense  with  it,  in 
medical  practice,  and  in  their  view  not  only  without  detriment,  but 
to  peculiar  advantage. 

3.  Could  it  consistently  be  dispensed  with  in  medical  practice 
universally,  a  powerful  cause  of  intemperance  would  be  removed. 

(19)  1.  The  press  is  one  of  the  chief  instruments  of  com- 
municating information,  and  forming  public  sentiment. 

2.  It  can  speak  to  multitudes  that  can  be  addressed  in  no  other 
way. 

3.  By  the  promotion  of  temperance,  it  will  aid  essentially  all 
patriotic,  humane,  and  benevolent  efforts. 

(20)  1.  To  no  class  is  the  Temperance  Reformation  of  more 
importance  than  to  young  men. 

2.  No  class  have  greater  means,  or  more  ability  to  promote  it. 

3.  The  character  of  young  men  will  soon  form  the  character  of 
the  country. 

(21)  1.  It  will  save  multitudes  of  their  own  sex  from  unut- 
terable wretchedness,  and  from  a  premature  grave. 

2.  It  will  save  vast  multitudes  of  children  from  becoming 
doubly  orphans. 

3.  It  will  exert  an  all  pervading  and  highly  salutary  influence 
on  youth,  and  on  all  classes  in  the  community. 

(22)  1.  It  will  increase  their  interest  in  the  cause,  and  of 
course  will  increase  their  efforts. 

2.  It  will  tend  to  remove  prejudices  not  only  on  this,  but  on 
other  subjects,  and  to  promote  mutual  good  will  among  men. 

3.  It  will  render  the  efforts  of  all  to  do  good  more  eminently 
and  extensively  useful. 

(23)  1.  It  tends  to  prevent  that  luxury  and  vice  which  are  the 
bane  of  civil  institutions. 

2.  It  tends  to  promote  industry,  economy,  and  obedience  to  the 
laws. 

3.  It  tends  to  promote  universal  intelligence  and  virtue. 

(24)  1.  Without  temperance,  all  efforts  to  do  good  must  in  a 
great  measure  fail. 

2.  With  union  and  perseverance  the  cause  will  be  triumphant. 

3.  It  will  tend  to  hasten  the  time  when  all  shall  know  and 
obey  the  Lord. 

9  *  24* 


102  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [328 

(2i)   1.   His  blessing  has  been  the  cause  of  all  past  success, 

2.  On  account  of  the  intimate  and  fundamental  connection  be- 
tween this  cause,  and  all  the  great  interests  of  men. 

3.  Without  an  acknowledgment  of  the  divine  favor,  and 
united  and  persevering  efforts,  we  cannot  expect  a  continuance 
of  the  divine  blessing;  or  have  any  rational  prospect  of  future 
success. 

(27)   1.   It  inculcates  falsehood. 

2.  It  perpetuates  intemperance. 

3.  It  promotes  pauperism  and  crime. 

4.  It  diminishes  the  wealth  of  the  nation. 

5.  It  increases  the  public  burdens. 

6.  It  impairs  the  health  of  the  people. 

7.  It  deteriorates  their  intellect. 

8.  It  corrupts  the  public  morals. 

9.  It  shortens  many  lives. 

10.  It  ruins  many  souls. — Of  course  it  is  a  business  which  is 
unjust  toward  men,  and  offensive  to  God. 


Extracts  of  a  letter  from  a  distinguished  gentleman  in  the  City 
of  Washington,  dated  July  24,  1833. 

"The  Convention  has  evidently  done  good.  It  has  given  a 
fresh  impetus  to  the  cause.  At  no  period  have  the  great  princi- 
ples of  temperance  moved  forward  with  such  strong  and  steady 
steps  as  for  the  last  six  months;  and  this  is  true,  not  merely  of 
this  or  that  town,  or  city,  or  section,  but  of  our  whole  country. 
I  perceive,  wherever  I  go,  and  with  whatever  company  I  am 
called  to  associate,  that  the  fashion  of  drinking  is  rapidly  de- 
elining;  and  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  is  becoming  a  crime. 
Nothing  is  wanting  but  a  bold,  manly  and  steady  perseverance 
of  the  friends  of  temperance,  to  eradicate,  utterly  eradicate  the 
manufacture,  sale  and  use  of  ardent  spirit  from  our  land.  The 
united  testimony  of  the  heads  of  the  different  departments  of  the 
Government,  the  members  of  Congress,  the  mail  contractors, 
and  various  other  persons  who  resort  to  Washington  from  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  United  States,  to  transact  business,  all  concur 
in  sustaining  this  declaration." 

Especially  may  we  hope  that  this  will  be  the  case,  should  the 
resolutions  of  the  Convention  be  complied  with  throughout  the 
country.  The  Committee  would  therefore  earnestly  recommend 
them,  and  the  reasons  annexed  to  them,  to  the  attention  of  their  fel- 
low citizens  throughout  the  community.  Let  every  man  do  his  duty, 
especially  the  young  men  of  our  country,  and  the  Temperance 
Reformation  will  be  triumphant,  its  blessings  extend  to  all  peo- 
ple, and  be  perpetuated  to  all  ages. 


329]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  103 


D.     (P.  33.) 

Constitution,  fyc.  of  the  American  Congressional    Temperance 
Society. 

As  the  use  of  Ardent  Spirit  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  inju- 
rious, as  it  tends  to  pauperism,  crime,  and  wretchedness  ;  to 
hinder  the  efficacy  of  all  means  for  the  intellectual  and  moral 
benefit  of  society,  and  also  to  endanger  the  purity  and  perma- 
nence of  our  free  institutions;  and  as  one  of  the  best  means  for 
counteracting  its  deleterious  effects,  is  the  influence  of  United  Ex- 
ample, Therefore,  we,  members  of  Congress,  and  others,  recogniz- 
ing the  principle  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  Ardent  Spirit,  and 
from  the  traffic  in  it,  as  the  basis  of  our  Union,  do  hereby  agree  to 
form  ourselves  into  a  society,  and  for  this  purpose  adopt  the  fol- 
lowing Constitution,  viz: 

Article  1.  This  Society  shall  be  called  The  American  Congres- 
sional Temperance  Society. 

Article  2.  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be,  by  example,  and 
by  kind  moral  influence,  to  discountenance  the  use  of  Ardent 
Spirit,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  throughout  the  community. 

Article  3.  Members  of  Congress,  and  all  who  have  been  mem- 
bers of  Congress,  officers  of  the  United  States  Government,  civil 
and  military,  and  heads  of  departments,  who  practically  adopt 
the  great  principle  of  this  Society,  may,  by  signing  the  Constitu- 
tion, become  members;  and  any  former  member  of  Congress,  or 
other  person  entitled  to  membership,  may  be  admitted,  on  ad- 
dressing to  the  Secretary  of  this  Society  a  letter,  expressive  of 
his  desire  to  be  considered  a  member. 

Article  4.  The  officers  of  the  Society  shall  be  a  President, 
Vice  Presidents,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  Auditor;  who  shall 
be  chosen  annually,  and  who  shall  perform  the  duties  usually 
assigned  to  such  officers;  and  who  shall  continue  in  office  until 
others  are  elected. 

Article  5.  The  Society  shall  annually  appoint  five  persons, 
who,  together  with  the  officers  of  the  Society,  shall  constitute  an 
executive  committee;  three  of  whom  shall  form  a  quorum,  and 
who  shall  from  time  to  time  take  such  measures,  as  shall  be 
adapted  to  render  this  Society  most  extensively  useful  to  the 
country. 

Article  6.  There  shall  be  an  annual  meeting  at  such  time  du- 
ring the  session  of  Congress,  as  the  committee  may  appoint: 
and  the  president,  and  in  his  absence  one  of  the  vice  presidents, 
at  the  request  of  the  committee,  may  at  any  time  call  a  special 
meeting  of  the  Society. 

Article  7.  The  constitution  may  be  altered  by  a  recommenda- 
tion of  the  executive  committee,  and  a  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the 
members  present  at  any  annual  meeting. 


104  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  ("33C 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the  officers  of  the  Soci- 
ety were  chosen,  as  follows: 

President,   Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  War. 

Vice  Presidents,  Hon.  Samuel  Bell,  New  Hampshire;  Hon. 
Gideon  Tomlinson,  Connecticut;  Hon.  John  Reed,  Massachu- 
setts; Hon.  Lewis  Condict,  New  Jersey  ;  Hon.  William  Wilkins, 
Pennsylvania;  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  Ohio;  Hon.  Felix  Grundy, 
Tennessee;  Hon.  John  Tipton,  Indiana;  Hon.  Daniel  Wardwell, 
New  York;    Hon.  James  M.  Wayne,  Georgia. 

Secretary,  Hon. Walter  Lowrie,  Secretary  of  U.  S.  Senate. 

Treasurer,  Hon.  E.  Whittlesey,  Ohio. 

Auditor,  Hon.  W.  W.  Elsworth,  Connecticut. 

Executive  Committee,  Hon.  Theo.  Frelinghuysen,  New  Jersey; 
Hon.  Arnold  Naudian,  Delaware;  Hon.  John  Blair,  Tennessee; 
Hon.  George  N.  Briggs,  Massachusetts;  Hon.  Elutheros  Cook, 
Ohio. 


E.     (P.  50.) 

Reduction  of  Taxes. 

The  population  of ,  N.H.  at  the  last  census  was  less  than 

1*200.  Three  rum  stores  and  two  rum  taverns  in  town,  together  with 
the  more  private  traffic  of  individuals,  were  loading  the  community 
with  an  annual  tax  of  nine  thousand  dollars,  to  pay  for  intoxicating 
liquors,  besides  the  incalculable  evils  of  drinking  the  poison. 
Their  temperance  reform  commenced  about  1827.  First  annual 
Report  of  their  society  exhibited  a  diminution  of  this  tax  to  the 
amount  of  $6,000  ;  the  second  reduced  it  $2,500,  leaving  only 
$500  as  the  expense  of  spirits  sold  in  the  town. 

At  this  time,  they  have  three  stores  and  one  tavern,  free  from 
this  strong  drink,  and  not  a  licensed  house  in  town.  It  is  estimated, 
that  the  cost  of  ardent  spirits,  as  at  present  used  by  the  town, 
does  not  exceed  the  rate  of  $100  by  the  year.  It  is  believed 
that  nine-tenths  of  the  population  drink  no  ardent  spirits. 

The  Congregational  Church,  now  consisting  of  200  members, 
las  more  than  doubled  since  this  reform  commenced.  Now  they 
actually  pay  for  preaching  at  home,  double  in  cash,  to  what  they 
paid  mostly  in  produce  before.  Ten  years  ago,  their  benevolent 
contributions  for  a  year  were  less  than  twelve  dollars.  They  pay 
the  present  year,  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  in  cash  for 
various  benevolent  objects,  besides  large  subscriptions  raised  for 
payment  hereafter.  The  Church  are  unanimously  pledged  against 
every  form  of  using  ardent  spirits  as  drink,  and  none  so  using 
H  are  ever  to  be  admitted. 

The  Methodist  Church  in  town,  consisting  of  nearly  100  mem- 
bers, are  said  to  be  practising  on  the  same  plan. 


531]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  105 


F.      (P.  50.) 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  a  merchant  in  Alabama,  showing  the 
benefits  to  merchants  and  others,  from  the  abandoning  of  the  use 
and  sale,  of  ardent  spirits. 

"About  twelve  years  ago,  I  connected  myself  in  business  with 
a  country  merchant  residing  in  the  middle  part  of  South  Alabama, 
and  soon  after  settled  my  family  at  the  same  place.  We  kept  a 
general  assortment  of  goods  ;  our  customers  were  generally  of 
the  class  called  "first  settlers,"  or  "pioneers,"  enterprising 
men,  with  young  but  numerous  families,  who,  being  poor,  and 
seeing  but  little  prospect  of  bettering  their  fortunes  in  the  land  of 
their  nativity,  had  the  courage  to  attempt  their  improvement  by 
removing  to,  and  settling  in,  a  new  country.  These  people  were 
industrious  and  liberal,  but  sadly  addicted  to  the  use  of  spirituous 
liquors.  They  were  kind  to  each  other  and  to  strangers.  If  a 
stranger  asked  for  a  glass  of  water,  it  was  their  custom  to  offer 
whiskey  with  it  ;  and  the  head  of  a  family,  although  unable  to 
pay  for  the  land  he  occupied,  would  apologise  with  seeming  mor- 
tification, if  he  was  unable  to  offer  his  visiting  neighbor  a  glass 
of  grog. 

It  is  the  business  of  a  country  merchant  to  supply  the  wants  of 
his  customers  ;  and  to  graduate  hi3 .  purchases  to  their  wants, 
requires  some  experience,  and  much  observation,  upon  which 
depends,  in  some  degree,  the  success  of  his  business. 

In  1824,  we  had  been  four  years  in  business,  and  it  required 
about  that  period,  100  barrels  of  whiskey,  with  a  large  quantity 
of  American  and  English  rum,  and  American  and  French  brandies, 
for  one  year's  demand. 

In  1825,   nearly  the  same, 

1826,  75  barrels  whiskey,  &c. 

1827,  40     " 

1828,  25     " 

1829,  10     "  "   and  2  pipes  brandy. 

1830,  5     "  "  2  " 

1831,  5     "  "1    " 

And  there  is  another  fact,  as  remarkable  as  the  decrease  of  the 
consumption  of  spirituous  liquors  in  that  neighborhood,  as  shown 
in  our  purchase  and  sales  above.  The  increase  of  the  consump- 
tion of  other  things,  as  shown  by  our  sales  of  the  articles,  was  nearly 
as  rapid.  But  the  most  interesting  fact  of  all  is  the  extraordinary 
change  in  the  circumstances  of  this  same  population.  From  the 
period  of  giving  up  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  these  people  began 
to  save  something  from  the  proceeds  of  the  little  crops;  and  partly 
with  these  savings,  and  partly  from  aid  given  by  a  gentleman  of 
some  monied  capital  who  resided  near,  they  have  purchased  the 
land  they  previously  settled  upon,  and  are  now  generally  indepen- 
dent planters,  making  from  five  to  fifty  bales  ofcotton  each  family, 


106  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [332 

besides  an  abundance  of  bread  stuffs,  and  almost  every  variety  of 
vegetables,  by  means  of  which,  with  their  ample  stocks  of  cattle, 
hogs,  sheep,  and  poultry,  they  are  enabled  to  live  in  great  com- 
fort. Now,  instead  of  offering  the  stranger  whiskey,  and  the  hos- 
pitality of  their  miserable  cabins,  they  receive  him  in  their  com- 
fortable houses,  and  in  place  of  the  shelf  formerly  to  be  seen  in 
their  cabins  decorated  with  jugs  and  black  bottles,  he  finds  shelves, 
or  book  cases  stored  with  books  ;  instead  of  ragged  children,  fine 
rosy  cheeked  girls  and  boys,  neatly  dressed,  and  ready  to  converse 
with  him  upon  the  subject  of  schools,  agriculture,  the  cotton 
market,  &c. 

Speaking  of  rosy  cheeks,  reminds  me  of  another  fact. — We 
kept  medicines,  with  our  other  wares,  and  our  sales  in  that  de- 
partment, for  the  last  six  years,  decreased  every  year.  [JV*.  Y. 
American.] 


G.     (P.  53.) 

Extracts  from  a  letter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Spaulding,  dated 
Lahaina,  Island  of  Maui,  (one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands)  October, 
1832. 

This  Island  has  35,000  souls,  and  is  without  a  temperance 
society  !  This  fact  may  not  be  generally  known  in  America, 
but  is  really  so.  There  is  no  temperance  society  on  Maui;  but  if 
any  man  is  detected  in  buying,  selling,  or  manufacturing  ardent 
spirits,  he  is  forthwith  put  into  the  fort,  sentenced  to  make  public 
road,  or  otherwise  fined  according  to  law.  About  four  years  ago, 
a  tabu  was  proclaimed  by  the  Governor  of  this  Island  upon  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits.  Soon  after,  a  native  who  had  a  barrel  of 
rum  in  his  possession,  acting  as  agent  for  a  man  on  Hawii,  ven- 
tured to  sell  one  bottle,  and  was  fined  $150,  to  be  paid  in  sandal 
wood,  and  he  immediately  collected  it.  Another  native  under- 
took to  sell  a  bottle,  and  was  fined  $75.  A  third  man,  a  foreigner, 
was  detected  in  selling  it  to  ships,  and  was  banished  to  another 
island,  during  the  season  of  shipping.  About  one  year  since,  a 
foreign  resident  in  Lahaina  was  suspected  of  selling  ardent  spirits 
to  the  sailors.  His  house  and  premises  were  immediately 
searched  without  finding  it.  Some  time  after,  it  was  ascertained 
that  he  had  one  keg  concealed  in  a  hogshead  of  coal,  in  his 
blacksmith's  shop.  The  same  individual  has  been  since  suspect- 
ed; but  if  he  sells  it  at  all,  it  is  with  closed  doors,  and  probably 
under  promises  of  secrecy.  A  short  time  since,  a  schooner 
engaged  in  merchant  service,  arrived  from  Honolulu  with  rum 
on  board.  A  native  ventured  to  purchase  a  little  to  sell  again  to 
the  seamen.  Soon  )ts  exhilarating  effects  were  discovered  by 
the  quarrelling  of  some  sailors,  and  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours 
from  the  arrival  of  the  schooner,  the  native  was  in  his  proper 
place,  i.  e.  in  the  fort.     About  the  same  time,  a  foreigner,   about 


333]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  107 

to  establish  himself  at  Lahaina,  was  detected  with  four  bottles  of 
rum,  and  for  certain  reasons,  I  do  not  know  that  he  told  what,  he 
went  immediately  on  board  a  whale  ship,  and  left  the  place.  It  is 
Mr.  Richards'  opinion  that  not  one  gallon  has  been  drunk  by  all 
the  inhabitants  of  this  Island  the  past  year.  We  have  no  evi- 
dence that  ardent  spirits  are  now  sold  at  this  place,  consequently 
all  is  comparatively  quiet;  and  more  than  this,  we  have  some  evi- 
dence that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  with  us. — We  are  much 
encouraged,  and  the  more,  encouraged  from  the  fact  that  we  have  no 
ardent  spirits  to  contend  with. 


H.     (P.  6.5.) 


[Facts  showing  the  evils  resulting  from  the  use  of  Intoxicating 
Liquors,  reported  to  the  Catskill  Temperance  Society,  Feb.  26, 
1833.] 

In  the  village  of  Catskill,  N.  Y.  whose  population  cannot  at  this 
time  vary  much  from  twenty-two  hundred,  the  efforts  for  the 
suppression  of  intemperance  have  produced  the  most  happy  re- 
sults. Eight  merchants,  who  were  formerly  engaged,  and  many 
of  them  extensively  so,  in  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  have  from 
principle  abandoned  the  traffic.  A  large  proportion  of  the  best 
families  in  the  village  have  discontinued  the  use  of  ardent  spirit 
as  a  drink  altogether.  More  than  seven  hundred  individuals, 
that  is,  about  one  third  of  all  the  inhabitants,  have  adopted  the 
pledge  of  total  abstinence,  and  joined  the  temperance  society. 
The  sentiment  is  rapidly  gaining  ground,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  all 
entirely  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  an  article,  which  has  done 
more  than  any  thing  else  to  overspread  the. civilized  world  with 
crime  and  lamentation  and  wo. 

But  notwithstanding  this,  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
all  the  fearful  evils  connected  with  it,  still  exist  to  an  alarming 
extent.  In  the  month  of  December  last  an  investigation  was  made 
in  relation  to  this  subject,  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  who  are  well 
acquainted  with  the  village,  and  distinguished  for  intelligence  and 
integrity.  As  the  result  of  their  investigation,  it  appears  that 
there  were  at  that  time  in  the  village  thirty-eight  persons  en- 
gaged in  selling  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  drink — that  is  one 
dealer  in  every  fifty-eight  of  the  inhabitants,  and  nearly  one  in 
every  thirty-nine  of  those  who  are  not  members  of  this  society. 
In  some  of  the  places  where  intoxicating  liquors  are  sold,  there 
are  perfect  schools  of  vice.  Impious  sneers  and  oaths  and  blas- 
phemies are  continually  to  be  heard  there.  The  friends  of  good 
order  are  made  a  hissing  and  a  byword.  The  laws  of  morality 
and  even  the  rules  of  decency  are  treated  with  contempt.  The 
holy  sabbath  is  trampled  under  foot,  and  its  sacred  hours  are  de- 
voted to  unusual  dissipation  and  wickedness.  The  intoxicating 
bowl  is  made   an  introduction  to  other  vices,   that  are  sweeping 


108  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIET2.  [334 

away  every  vestige  of  good  principle,  and  cutting  off  every  pros- 
pect of  a  reformation. 

There  were  at  that  time  in  the  village  one  hundred  and  thirty 
habitual  drunkards — that  is,  one  in  every  seventeen  of  the  whole 
population,  and  one  in  every  eleven  of  those  who  are  not  mem- 
bers of  this  society.  Many  of  these  are  heads  of  families  who 
might  have  been  in  easy  and  honorable  circumstances.  But 
their  habits  have  placed  them  in  circumstances  of  an  opposite 
character.  In  many  instances  their  children  are  suffering  with 
cold  and  hunger,  their  wives  are  sinking  in  despair. 

There  are  three  hundred  more  in  the  village  who  are  publicly 
known  to  be  drinkers  of  ardent  spirits.  Of  this  number  many 
are  occasional  drunkards,  many  more  free  drinkers,  and  the  res- 
idue such  as  in  the  language  of  former  times  would  have  been 
called  temperate  drinkers.  A  portion  of  this  three  hundred  are 
young  men,  who  but  for  intoxicating  drinks  would  be  young  men 
of  high  hopes  and  fair  prospects.  But  their  friends  are  beginning 
to  tremble  for  their  safety,  and  unless  their  habits  can  be  changed, 
and  that  speedily,  their  ruin  is  certain. 

In  all  then  there  are  in  the  village  besides  those  who  drink 
privately,  four  hundred  and  thirty  who  are  either  drunkards  or 
advancing  to  that  condition — that  is,  two  in  every  seven  of  those 
who  are  not  members  of  this  society. 

If  the  whole  county  of  Greene  contains  the  same  proportion  ot 
drunkards  as  the  village  of  Catskill,  there  are  in  the  county  sev- 
enteen hundred  habitual  drunkards,  and  four  thousand  more  who 
are  travelling  in  the  way  which  leads  to  habitual  drunkenness. 

The  amount  paid  by  the  consumers  of  intoxicating  liquors  to 
the  venders  in  the  village  of  Catskill,  supposing  each  vender  to 
receive  on  an  average  only  one  dollar  and  a  half  per  day,  which 
is  probably  below  the  truth,  would  be  20,805  dollars  annually.  If 
the  county  pay  in  the  same  proportion  for  its  whole  population  as 
the  village  of  Catskill,  the  amount  annually  expended  by  the  con- 
sumers of  intoxicating  liquors  in  the  county,  would  be  283,704 
dollars.  This  sum  would  furnish  700  families  with  more  than 
$400  apiece  for  their  support. 

If  we  add  to  this  sum  the  value  of  time  spent  in  drinking  and 
drunkenness,  and  in  indolence  and  ill  health  resulting  from 
drunkenness,  together  with  losses  from  mismanagement  and 
otherwise,  resulting  from  the  same  cause,  the  amount  would  pro- 
bably be  more  than  doubled.  But  in  estimating  the  losses  which 
individuals  sustain  in  consequence  of  intoxicating  liquors,  we 
should  not  forget  the  peace  of  mind,  and  character  and  influence 
which  they  sacrifice.  We  should  not  lose  sight  of  the  sufferings 
and  agonies  of  their  families  and  friends.  There  is  still  another 
light  in  which  it  is  important  to  count  the  cost  of  strong  drink. 
TheSovereign  of  the  Universe  has  declared  that  drunkards  shall 
not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  Who  then  can  estimate  the 
losses  sustained  by  those  that  have  been  slain  by  intemperance: 


335]  SIXTH   REPORT. 1833. — APPENDIX.  109 

Who  can  calculate  the  risks  incurred  by  those  that  are  now  rush- 
ing on  to  the  drunkard's  grave? 

But  great  as  are  the  evils  already  exhibited,  the  influence  of 
intoxicating  liquors  in  the  production  of  crime  and  pauperism  and 
public  taxes,  is  no  less  alarming.  The  following  facts  in  relation 
to  this  point  are  not  stated  on  conjecture  or  vague  report.  In 
support  of  them  the  Committee  have,  in  their  possession,  direct 
testimony  derived  from  the  most  authentic  sources,  which  they 
could  produce  if  necessary.  Where  the  testimony  is  not  full,  the 
nature  of  it  is  stated. 

During  a  period  of  seven  years,  terminating  last  December, 
nearly  three  hundred  individuals  were  at  different  times,  confined 
in  the  Jail  of  Greene  County  for  crimes.  All  of  this  number,  ex- 
cept three,  were  intemperate,  whether  those  three  were  so  or  not, 
is  doubtful.  During  the  same  period  about  sixty  individuals  were 
imprisoned  in  the  same  jail  for  debt,  who  were  unable  to  pro- 
cure bail  for  the  limits.  All  of  this  number,  without  exception, 
were  intemperate.  If  then  there  had  been  no  intoxicating  li- 
quors in  use,  the  county  might  have  been  free  from  the  burden 
of  supporting  its  jail. 

Of  those  who  have  received  aid  at  the  Greene  County  Poor- 
house  during  the  last  three  years,  about  one  fifth  are  children 
under  the  age  of  sixteen  years.  Of  the  adults,  about  three  eights 
are  males,  and  the  remaining  five  eights  females.  At  least  seven 
eights  of  the  children  are  made  paupers  by  the  intemperance  of 
their  parents,  and  as  great  a  proportion  of  the  adult  males  are 
made  so  by  their  own  intemperance;  about  three  fifths  of  the 
adult  females  are  intemperate,  and  one  fifth  are  made  paupers  by 
the  intemperance  of  those  on  whom  they  were  dependent,  so  that 
not  more  than  one  fifth  even  of  the  females  were  made  paupers 
by  any  other  cause  than  intemperance. 

The  number  that  have  received  aid  from  the  county,  either  at 
the  Poor-house  or  out  of  it  in  the  several  towns  during  each  of  the 
last  three  years,  has  varied  between  300  and  400  annually.  At 
least  seven  eights  of  the  whole  number  were  made  paupers  by  in- 
temperance. 

But  for  intoxicating  liquors,  therefore,  any  public  provision  for 
the  support  of  the  poor  in  this  county  would  scarcely  have  been 
necessary.  It  is  believed  that  the  supplies  now  furnished  for 
drunkards  and  their  families  by  private  charity,  would  be  far  more 
than  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  all  those  who  are  not  made  pau- 
pers by  intemperance.  These  supplies  too  would  have  been 
cheerfully  furnished  in  every  case  of  need,  if  intemperance  had 
not  frozen  up  the  charities  of  the  benevolent. 

The  jail  expenses  for  criminals,  including  the  repairs  of  the 
jail,  have  cost  the  county  annually  for  the  last  seven  years,  the 
average  sum  of  850  dollars,  making  for  the  seven  years  $5950. 
All  of  this,  according  to  the  statement  above,  except  perhaps  a 
trifling  item  which  is  doubtful,  is  chargeable  to  intoxicating  li- 
quors. 

10  2b 


110  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [336 

To  this  should  be  added  the  charges  of  magistrates  and  other 
officers,  for  arresting  and  examining  criminals,  together  with  all 
the  charges  attending  their  trial.  These  charges  cannot  all  be 
determined  with  perfect  accuracy.  A  number  of  gentlemen 
made  an  investigation  in  relation  to  them  for  one  year.  A  num- 
ber of  the  largest  items  they  ascertained  precisely,  and  had  some 
facilities  for  forming  an  estimate  of  nearly  all  the  rest.  As  the 
result  of  their  investigation,  they  were  convinced  that  the  amount 
for  that  year  could  not  have  been  less  than  1500  dollars.  It  may 
have  been  more.  In  this  estimate  nothing  was  allowed  for  the 
time  and  expenses  of  jurors  and  witnesses  attending  on  criminal 
trials,  nor  for  any  other  services  not  paid  for  out  of  the  county 
treasury. 

The  expenses  of  the  county  for  the  support  of  the  poor  during 
each  of  the  last  three  years  have  been  as  follows — 
,„  ,830  |  Aid  rendered  at  £  J£j™^J0.J,  J  $4391>3, 

1831  j        £ ;„: tpoowo„r;house  amif0\p™.™ 

1832  |  at  *<>  Poo'-house       4724, 19 

(  in  the  towns  1900,00  J  tf  ' 

$16695,80 

The  gentleman  who  furnished  this  statement  had  not  the  bills 
of  expenditures  in  the  several  towns,  in  1832,  before  him  at  the 
time  the  statement  was  made.  But  being  extensively  acquainted 
with  the  subject,  he  believed  they  must  amount  to  the  sum  stated, 
viz.  $1900. 

The  whole  expense  of  the  poor  then  for  the  last  three  years  is 
16,695  dollars.  The  Committee  have  already  given  their  reasons 
for  believing  that  no  part  of  this  expense  would  have  been  in- 
curred by  the  county,  had  there  been  no  intemperance.  But 
without  relying  on  probabilities,  it  has  been  proved,  that  at  least 
seven  eights  of  this,  that  is  14,608  dollars,  is  directly  chargeable 
to  intoxicating  liquors.  Seven  eights  of  the  charge  for  the  poor  in 
1832,  is  5,796  dollars. 

According  to  the  facts  and  estimates  already  exhibited,  intoxi- 
cating liquors  imposed  upon  the  county  in  1832,  a  tax  for 
The  average  amount  of  Jail  expenses     .  .  $850 

Other  expenses  for  intemperate  criminals  1500 

Seven  eights  of  the  expenses  for  the  poor  5796 

Additional  expenses  to  Collectors,  Treasurer,  &c. 
for  raising  the  above  sums  ....      488 

Whole  amount $8,634. 

The  whole  amount  raised  by  tax  for  defraying  all  the  county 
and  town  expenses  for  1832,  including  between  $1000  and  $2000 
extraordinary,  occasioned  by  the  cholera,  is  only  $16,205,66. 
Intoxicating  liquors  therefore  were  the  immediate  cause  of  more 
than  one  half  of  the  burden  imposed  upon  ev^ry  man  who  paid 
taxes  in  the  county  for  last  year. 


337]  SIXTH    REPORT. 1833. APPENDIX.  Ill 

The  tax  upon  good  morals  should  also  be  taken  into  the  ac- 
count. Drunkards  are  not  the  only  individuals  whose  moral  pu- 
rity is  destroyed  by  intoxicating  liquors.  These  individuals  are 
dispersed  through  every  neighborhood  in  the  county,  scattering 
pollution  and  moral  death  wherever  they  go.  Every  youth,  and 
almost  every  child  is  brought  within  their  influence,  and  conse- 
quently liable  to  be  tainted  by  their  example. 

We  see  then, from  unquestionable  facts,  that  intoxicating  drink 
causes  almost,  if  not  quite  all  of  our  criminals,  at  least  seven 
eights  of  our  paupers,  and  more  than  half  of  our  taxes. — It  is 
ruining  our  youth  as  well  as  those  of  maturer  years.  It  is  cor- 
rupting the  public  morals,  resisting  the  progress  of  religion,  and 
filling  the  land  with  infidelity  and  atheism. 

A  question  now  arises,  Is  it  right  to  partake  of  a  beverage 
which  is  poisoning  the  sources  of  private  happiness  and  national 
prosperity  ?  Is  it  right  in  any  way  to  encourage  or  sanction  the 
use  of  such  a  beverage?  Should  some  foreign  monarch  slay 
30,000  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  every  year,  should  he 
double  the  amount  of  our  public  taxes,  should  he  corrupt  the 
morals  of  our  country,  and  resist  the  progress  of  our  religion, 
and  threaten  the  destruction  of  our  government,  would  it  be  right 
for  this  nation  to  continue  a  friendly  intercourse  with  him? 
Would  any  one  plead  that  he  might  possibly  afford  us  aid  in  some 
time  of  distress,  and  therefore  it  was  best  to  remain  on  terms  of 
intimacy  and  friendship  with  him?  No;  millions  of  voices  would 
exclaim  with  indignation,  not  for  a  moment.  Come  what  will, 
we  abandon  forever  that  cruel  tyrant.  His  friendship  is  death. 
Whoever  favors  him  shall  be  branded  as  a  traitor,  and  spurned 
from  society.  But  all  these  evils,  with  a  host  of  others  of  the 
most  aggravated  character,  are  brought  upon  us  by  intoxicating 
liquors. 

Again,  a  question  arises  in  view  of  the  facts  which  we  have 
detailed.  Is  it  morally  right  any  longer  to  grant  licenses  for  the 
sale  of  ardent  spirits?  Ought  we,  by  our  town  and  village  au- 
thorities, any  longer  to  sell  licenses  for  opening  the  fountains  of 
sin,  and  pouring  forth  rivers  of  pollution  and  death  upon  the 
community?  Is  it  right  thus  to  sanction  the  use  of  an  article 
which  has  produced  nearly  all  of  our  criminals,  and  seven  eights 
of  our  paupers  and  more  than  half  of  our  taxes?  Is  it  good 
economy,  is  it  wisdom  to  do  so? 

In  conclusion,  the  facts  which  have  been  presented,  warrant 
us  in  saying,  that  every  one  who  has  a  family  to  educate,  or 
taxes  to  pay,  or  a  country  to  love,  or  a  God  to  serve,  is  directly 
interested  in  having  all  intoxicating  liquors  banished  from  the 
land. 

Orrin  Day,  "\  ("Francis  Savre, 

Rev.  I.  N.  Wyckoff,      /  Executive  \  O.  L.  Kirtlan'? 
Rev.  T.  M.  Smith,  >  <  E.  B.  Day, 

Rev.  J.  Dowling,  I  Committee.  )  T.  F.  Romeyx. 

C.  C.  Hoagland,  M.D.  )  \ 


112  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [338 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  New- York  State  Temperance 
Society,  in  presenting  to  the  Parent  Institution  its  Fourth 
Annual  Report,  respectfully  submits  the  following  summary  of 
results. 

I.  Nlimber  of  Auxiliaries  in  the  Slate  of  JYew-York. — Including 
the  State  Society,  fftecii  hundred  and  thirty-eight  temperance  so- 
cieties have  been  reported.  Many  more  are  known  to  exist  from 
which  no  report  has  been  received. 

II.  Present  number  of  Members. — This  by  actual  enumeration 
amounts  to  two  hundred  and  thirty-one  thousand  and  seventy-four ; 
but  here  also  it  is  proper  to  remark,  that  the  number  actually 
pledged  to  total  abstinence  greatly  exceeds  the  sum  arrived  at  by 
enumeration,  as  in  some  societies  great  increase  has  taken  place 
since  the  reports  were  sent  in,  and  from  others  complete  returns 
have  never  been  made.  Increase  in  the  year,  sixty  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  four. 

III.  Temperance  Stores  and  Taverns. — By  these  we  under- 
stand those  stores  and  taverns  where  the  absence  of  spirituous 
liquors  is  the  result  and  effect  of  the  temperance  reform.  One 
thousand  two  hundred  and  two  of  these  have  been  reported. 

IV.  Distilleries  discontinued. — These  amount  to  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one;  a  great  part,  but  we  think  not  all,  of  these  have 
been  discontinued  in  the  course  of  the  past  year. 

[JVete  York  State  Report.] 


The  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  composed  of  the 
great  body  of  Evangelical  Congregational  Ministers  in  that  State, 
say,  "  The  Temperance  Reformation  has  made  rapid  advances. 
In  some  associations,  the  number  of  pledges  has,  during  the 
year,  been  more  than  doubled.  In  others  there  is  not  an  indi- 
vidual licensed  to  sell  strong  drink,  and  in  the  most,  if  not  all,  the 
number  of  licenses  has  been  greatly  diminished.  Many  of  our 
churches  have  become  temperance  churches.  They  admit  none 
to  their  fellowship,  who  do  not  avow  the  principle  of  total  absti- 
nence from  both  the  consumption  and  the  traffic.  And  some  of 
them  have,  by  special  vote,  made  the  traffic  in  every  form  a 
disciplinable  offence." 

They  also  passed  unanimously  the  following  resolution,  viz. 

"  As  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  not  only  unne- 
cessary but  injurious  to  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  interests  of 
men,  therefore,  the  laws  which  sanction  that  traffic  by  licensing 
men  to  pursue  it,  are,  in  the  judgment  of  this  association,  mor- 
ally wrong;  and  ought  to  be  so  modified,  that  instead  of  licensing 
the  sin,  and  thus  sanctioning  its  continuance,  they  will  only,  as 
far  as  practicable  and  expedient,  defend  the  community  from  its 
<*.vils.''' 


SEVENTH    REPORT 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 


The  present  age  is  marked  with  strong  and  auspicious  peculiar- 
ities. One  of  them  is,  increasing  numbers  of  people  are  disposed 
to  inquire,  with  regard  to  every  moral  principle  and  practice,  "  Is 
it  right  ?  "  It  is  less  satisfactory  now,  than  in  former  times,  that  a 
thing  is  pleasant  merely  ;  that  it  is  popular,  has  been  practised  a 
long  time,  by  respectable  men,  or  even  by  good  men.  The 
question  is,  and  with  numbers  increasing  continually,  "Is  it 
right  ?" 

Another  auspicious  indication  of  the  present  time,  is,  the  stand- 
ard of  right  and  wrong,  with  increasing  numbers,  is  the  Bible. 
This  has,  by  good  men,  long  been  acknowledged  in  theory,  as  the 
only  sufficient  and  perfect  moral  standard.  But  they  are  now, 
more  than  ever  before,  applying  it  to  practice.  Not  only  are  they 
laboring  with  new  vigor  to  send  it  to  all  nations,  and  convey  a 
knowledge  of  its  contents  to  all  hearts  ;  but  they  are  appealing  to 
it,  as  the  criterion  of  thought  and  action  ;  and  are  endeavoring, 
with  new  diligence,  to  bring  every  soul,  under  its  all-controlling 
power. 

It  is  not  so  decisive,  as  it  once  was,  that  a  thing  is  legal, 
according  to  human  statute  ;  or  honorable  in  human  society  ;  but 
the  question  is,  does  it  accord  with  the  will  of  God  as  revealed 
in  the  Bible?  To  the  law,  and  the  testimony  ;  if  they  speak  not 
according  to  this  word,  increasing  numbers  conclude,  there  is  no 
light  in  them.  Nor  do  they  confine  the  supervision  of  the  Bible, 
as  much  as  they  once  did,  to  subjects  that  are  purely  religious. 
They  are  extending  it  to  all  the  affairs  of  life.  Business,  amuse- 
ments, legislation,  everything  in  which  men  are  engaged,  they  feel 
bound  to  prosecute  in  accordance  with  the  Bible  ;  and  whether 
they  eat,  or  drink,  or  whatever  they  do,  to  do  all  in  obedience  to 
its  dictates.  Other  things  as  the  standard  of  feeling  and  conduct, 
are  in  their  influence  over  men,  diminishing  ;  and  the  Bible  is 
rising,  and  rising,  toward  that  state,  in  which  it  shall  appear  to  all, 
that  the  Lord  hath  magnified  his  word  above  all  his  name. 

Another  momentous  indication  of  the  present  time,  and  one 
which  takes  hold  with  a  mighty  grasp  on  the  destinies  of  men,  is> 
1  25* 


2  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [340 

the  number  is  increasing  who  feel  conscience-bound  daily  to  listen 
to  the  Bible  as  the  voice  of  God,  speaking  to  them  ;  and  with 
fervent  supplication  for  the  teaching  of  his  Spirit,  that  they  may 
understand  his  will  ;  and  who,  when  they  do  understand  it,  are  not 
afraid,  or  ashamed  to  do  it. 

The  number  is  rapidly  increasing,  who  when  they  learn  that 
the  Bible  condemns  a  practice,  will  renounce  it ;  and  who,  when 
they  learn  that  it  requires  an  action,  will  attempt,  with  the  spirit 
which  the  Bible  inculcates,  to  perform  it,  whether  other  men  do 
this  or  not ;  and  who  will  leave  the  consequences  to  the  divine 
disposal. 

There  is  a  deeper  and  more  pervading  conviction,  than  ever 
before,  of  individual  personal  responsibility  directly  to  God  ;  bind- 
ing each  one,  in  all  situations,  for  the  character  and  tendency  of 
his  actions,  to  the  retributions  of  eternity.  Efforts  to  do  good 
are  not  so  much  confined  as  they  once  were,  to  ways  only  which 
have  the  sanction  of  general  example  ;  or  that  are  deemed  by  the 
great  body  of  men,  to  be  respectable.  It  is  less  necessary  now, 
than  it  once  was,  for  a  good  man  to  see  a  great  multitude  ahead, 
before  he  thinks  it  expedient  for  him  to  do  right  ;  or  attempt,  by 
sound  argument,  and  kind  persuasion,  to  induce  others  to  do 
right. 

The  consequence  is,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  common, 
if  a  man  wishes  to  have  good  done,  to  do  it  himself ;  if  a  man 
wishes  to  have  a  little  good  done,  to  do  that ;  and  if  he  wishes  to 
have  great  good  done,  to  do  that  ;  and  to  do  it  now.  There  is 
less  disposition  than  formerly  to  depend  on  other  people,  and  to 
put  off  present  duty  to  future  time.  Men  are  not  so  much  afraid 
as  they  once  were,  or  ashamed,  if  needful,  to  go  in  the  path  of 
duty,  alone  ;  and,  whether  others  do  it  or  not,  attempt  to  do  good 
as  they  have  opportunity  to  all  men  ;  expecting  that  their  labor 
will  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  The  feeblest  and  most  obscure 
do  not  now  despair  of  exerting  influence  that  shall  be  felt  by  all 
people,  to  all  ages. 

And  men  are  less  satisfied  now,  than  they  once  were,  with  clip- 
ping off  the  twigs  or  lopping  off  the  branches  ;  they  are  more 
disposed  to  go  to  the  root,  and  in  order  to  make  the  fruit  good,  to 
make  the  tree  good.  They  have  learned  that  they  cannot  stop  the 
stream,  without  drying  up  the  fountain.  They  go  more  than  for- 
merly to  principles,  in  their  application  to  practice  ;  and  to 
remove  the  effects,  undertake  to  remove  the  cause. 

The  consequence  is,  efforts  to  do  good,  are  more  successful 
than  ever  before.  They  take  a  wider  range  ;  exert  a  more  per- 
vading influence  ;  and  the  same  amount  of  effort  accomplishes 
vastly  greater  results.  And  the  more  men  do  the  will  of  God,  the 
more  plain  his  will  is  ;  and  the  blessings  of  obeying  it,  are  more 


341]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834-  3 

obvious  and  abundant.  And  as  that  will  is  made  known,  it  com- 
mends itself  more  strongly  than  ever  before  to  the  conscience  ; 
the  blessings  of  obeying  it  attract  greater  attention,  and  the  num- 
bers who  are  moved  by  it  to  mighty  deeds  of  kindness,  are  increas- 
ing, with  a  rapidity  and  to  an  extent  never  before  known.  Thus 
acting  and  reacting,  u  light  and  love,  "the  grand  means  of  universal 
moral  renovation,  are  moving  onward  from  conquering  to  conquer  ; 
inspiring  with  new  hope,  cheering  with  new  expectations,  and 
exciting  all  who  are  governed  by  them,  to  higher  and  holier  efforts, 
that  the  will  of  God  may  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 

A  striking  development  of  these  principles  has  been  made  in  the 
Temperance  Reformation.  A  vicious  practice  had  obtained,  had 
received  the  sanction  of  legislation,  and  the  support  of  the  example 
of  nearly  the  whole  Christian  world.  But  it  was  followed,  as  its 
natural  and  necessary  result,  by  loss  of  property,  character,  life 
and  soul,  to  an  extent  which  must  fill  every  person  who  compre- 
hends it,  with  amazement.  And  the  question  was  started,  no 
doubt,  by  the  spirit  of  God,  "  Is  it  right,"  to  continue  a  practice 
which  produces  such  results  ;  and  which,  if  continued,  will  perpet- 
uate and  increase  them  to  all  future  ages  ?  The  Bible  was  exam- 
ined, and  providences  observed ;  divine  teaching  was  sought, 
and  the  conviction  was  fastened  on  the  mind,  that  the  practice 
was  not  right ;  and  that  to  prevent  the  evils  which  it  produced, 
men  must  cease  to  perpetuate  the  cause. 

And  for  the  purpose  of  making  known  to  them,  especially  to 
our  own  countrymen,  the  reasons  why  they  should  do  this,  the 
American  Temperance  Society  was  formed.  Its  object,  is,  by 
the  diffusion  of  information  and  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influ- 
ence, to  attempt,  with  the  divine  blessing,  to  produce  such  a 
change  of  sentiment  and  practice  with  regard  to  intoxicating  drink, 
that  intemperance  shall  cease,  and  temperance,  with  all  its  attend- 
ant benefits  to  the  body  and  the  soul,  shall  universally  prevail. 

Temperance,  in  view  of  those  who  formed  this  Society,  is  the 
moderate  and  proper  use  of  things  beneficial ;  and  abstinence  from 
things  hurtful.  Ardent  spirit,  being  in  its  nature,  as  manifested 
by  its  effects,  a  poison  ;  and  of  course,  one  of  the  hurtful  things, 
and  in  this  country,  the  grand  means  of  intoxication,  their  object 
required  them  to  abstain  from  the  drinking,  and  from  the  furnish- 
ing of  it ;  and  to  endeavor,  by  all  suitable  means,  to  induce  the 
whole  community  to  do  the  same. 

This  object  they  have  steadily  pursued.  And  to  give  to  moral 
influence  the  highest  and  best  effect,  they  have  attempted  to 
embody,  in  voluntary  associations,  all,  who  practice  on  the  above 
principle,  and  -are  willing  to  unite  in  them.  The  plan  has  received 
the  smile  of  Heaven.  It  has  been  viewed  with  favor  by  the  good, 
and  has  accomplished  great  results. 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [342 

At  our  last  Annual  Meeting,  there  had  been  formed  in  the 
United  States  21  State  Temperance  Societies;  and  in  smaller 
districts,  it  was  supposed,  more  than  5000  other  Temperance 
Societies,  embodying  on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  drinking 
of  ardent  spirit  and  from  the  traffic  in  it,  more  than  1,000,000 
members.  More  than  2000  men  had  ceased  to  make  it;  and 
more  than  6000  had  ceased  to  sell  it.  They  believed  that  the 
business  was  wicked,  and  they  applied  this  belief  to  their  practice. 
More  than  5000  men  who  once  were  drunkards,  had  within  five 
years  ceased  to  use  intoxicating  drink;  and  were,  as  all  men  who 
pursue  this  course  will  be,  sober  men.  Many  of  them  had  become 
highly  respectable  and  useful,  and  not  a  few  truly  pious  men. 

More  than  700  vessels  were  afloat  on  the  ocean,  in  which  ar- 
dent spirit  was  not  used;  and  multitudes  of  all  ages,  in  all  kinds 
of  lawful  business,  and  in  every  variety  of  condition,  had  found  by 
experience,  that  they  were  in  all  respects  better  without  the  use 
of  it.  Facts  had  proved  that  it  is  a  nuisance,  unspeakably  injuri- 
ous to  mankind.  Numerous  Medical  Associations  had  condemned 
the  drinking  of  it,  as  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  life;  and  various 
Ecclesiastical  bodies  of  different  denominations,  embracing  more 
than  5000  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  more  than  6000  Christian 
Churches,  had  expressed  it  as  their  solemn  and  deliberate  convic- 
tion, that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  morally 
wrong ;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  abandoned  throughout  the  world. 
In  this  state  of  things  we  commenced  the  labors  of  the  past  year. 

The  United  States  Temperance  Convention  that  had  been  in- 
vited by  this  Society  to  meet  in  Philadelphia,  assembled  in  that 
city  on  the  24th  of  May.  It  was  composed  of  more  than  400 
delegates,  and  from  21  States.  Seldom  has  a  body  of  men 
assembled  of  greater  weight  of  character,  and  of  higher  and  better 
influence  in  the  country.  They  continued  in  session  three  days, 
and  passed  with  great  unanimity  about  thirty  resolutions,  expressive 
of  their  views  on  various  points  of  this  momentous  subject. 

The  resolution  which  excited  the  greatest  interest,  and  which 
led  to  the  longest  and  most  animated  debate,  was  that,  which  ex- 
pressed the  sentiment,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used 
as  a  drink,  is  morally  wrong;  and  ought  to  be  universally  abandoned. 
This  sentiment  had  before  been  expressed  not  only  by  the  Eccle- 
siastical bodies  above  referred  to,  but  by  the  American  Congressional 
Temperance  Meeting,  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington;  and  numerous 
other  meetings;  and  the  traffic  had  been  treated  as  immoral  in 
various  ways  in  different  parts  of  the  country. 

It  was  to  be  cxjDected  therefore,  that  this  point  would  occupy 
the  attention  cf  the  United  States  Temperance  Convention.  Many 
were  anxious  to  know,  what  the  Physicians,  the  Jurists,  and  the 
Statesmen,  who  were  collected  from  all  parts  of  the  country  on 


343]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  5 

that  occasion  thought  upon  this  subject.  If  they  viewed  the 
nature  of  ardent  spirit  to  be  such,  that  the  traffic  in  it,  to  be  used 
as  a  drink,  is  necessarily  immoral,  and  as  such  ought  to  be  aban- 
doned, it  was  obvious  that  the  subject  demanded  universal  attention. 
When  the  question  came  up,  therefore,  it  excited  great  interest. 
Some  expressed  doubts;  not  so  much, however,  whether  the  traffic 
is  immoral,  as  whether  it  would  be  useful  for  the  Convention  to 
say  so.  But  as  the  discussion  proceeded,  and  the  manifest  and 
enormous  immorality  of  the  traffic  was  exhibited,  this  number 
lessened.  They  not  only  saw  that  it  is  an  immorality,  but  that 
it  was  a  duty  which  they  owed  to  God,  to  themselves,  and  to 
society,  to  express  their  deep  and  solemn  conviction  of  this  truth, 
and  to  publish  it,  as  extensively  as  possible,  for  the  benefit  of  man- 
kind. And  seldom  has  any  act  of  a  public  body,  designed  to 
operate  by  moral  influence,  been  hailed  with  greater  gladness,  or 
promised  to  do  greater  good.  Passed  as  it  was,  after  long  and 
full  discussion,  in  a  Body  composed  of  men  of  all  professions  and 
employments,  and  of  all  Christian  denominations,  and  political 
parties,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  country;  and  in  accordance  with 
the  fundamental  truth  which  the  American  Temperance  Society 
and  various  other  bodies  of  men,  had  been  propagating  fw  YGals, 
its  influence  w'aS  iSit  throughout  the  land.  Numbers  who  had  not 
before  done  it,  were  now  led  to  examine  the  subject  in  the  light 
of  the  moral  law;  and  the  more  extensive  the  examination  the  more 
deep  and  general  has  been  the  conviction,  that  the  sentiment  ex- 
pressed by  the  Convention  is  eternal  truth,  the  belief  of  which, 
is  of  infinite  importance;  and  that  it  ought  to  be  published  with  its 
evidence  and  proclaimed  throughout  the  world.  Had  the  Conven- 
tion done  nothing  else,  but,  after  examination,  express  their  con- 
viction on  this  point,  they  had  done  a  deed  which  would  have 
marked  them  as  benefactors  of  their  country,  and  been  remem- 
bered with  gratitude  by  the  friends  of  humanity  to  the  end  of  time. 
The  immorality  of  this  traffic,  is  what  renders  it  certain,  that  it 
will  be  discontinued.  And  the  knowledge  of  its  immorality,  uni- 
versally communicated,  is  to  be  the  means,  under  providence, 
of  accomplishing  this  result.  And  no  one  thing  has  a  greater  ten- 
dency to  this,  than  the  publication  of  the  views  of  wise  and  good 
men. 

On  the  18th  of  September  a  State  Temperance  Convention 
was  held  at  Worcester  in  Massachusetts.  More  than  500  dele- 
gates were  present,  and  from  all  parts  of  the  Commonwealth. 
Distinguished  gentlemen  of  all  professions  were  members,  and  the 
Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  was  President  of  the  Convention. 
This  body  also,  after  careful  attention  to  this  subject,  expressed 
their  conviction  of  the  immorality  of  this  traffic,  and  that  they 
ought,  by  the  combined  power  of  opinion  and  example,  to  pro- 
1* 


6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [344 

mote  its  universal  abandonment.  Since  that  time  numerous  in- 
dividuals in  the  Commonwealth  have  renounced  the  traffic;  licenses 
for  the  sale  of  spirit  have  been  refused  in  many  towns;  about 
10,000  persons  embodied  in  Ward  Temperance  Societies  in  Bos- 
ton, and  great  numbers  in  other  parts  of  the  State. 

There  are  now  in  Boston,  5  Hotels  and  20  Groceries  in 
which  spirit  is  not  sold.  In  the  county  of  Suffolk,  the  number 
of  licenses  has  been  reduced  from  613  to  314.  In  Hampshire 
County,  the  number  of  grog-shops  has  been  reduced  from  83,  to 
8.  In  Plymouth  and  Bristol  Counties  and  in  numerous  towns  no 
licenses  are  given;  and  in  many  of  them  ardent  spirit  is  not  sold. 
In  some  of  those  towns. however,  men  who  love  the  poison,  have 

sent  for  it  to  Boston.    From  one  place  Esq. was  accustomed  to 

go  with  his  waggon,  and  the  drinkers  to  send  by  him,  each  one 
his  bottle.  On  his  return,  which  was  generally  found  convenient 
to  be  in  the  evening,  he  left  a  jug  at  this  place  and  a  jug  at  that, 

&c.     On  his  return  one  evening,  while  he  was  in  at  Mr. 's  and 

his  waggon  at  the  door,  some  one  took  charge  of  a  part  of  its 

contents.     When  Esq. came  out,  a  bottle  was  gone.     The 

next   morning  Capt. was   missing.     Inquiry  was  made,  but 

no  one  could  tell  what  had  become  of  him.  A  number  of  days 
after,  he  was  found  in  the  woods,  dead;  with  the  bottle  at  his  side 
about  half  emptied.  The  cases  are  numerous  among  the  drinkers 
of  the  poison,  where  the  end  is  death.  And  the  conviction  is 
rapidly  extending  among  all  classes,  that  the  traffic  in  it,  to  be  used 
as  a  drink,  is  a  manifest  violation  of  the  great  principles  of  morality, 
and  utterly  forbidden  by  the  Word  of  God. 

On  the  18th  of  November  a  similar  Convention  was  held  at 
Utica  in  New  York;  and  on  the  3d  of  December  in  Middletown 
in  Connecticut.  Both  of  these  Conventions,  after  mature  deliber- 
ation, expressed  the  same  conviction  with  the  others.  The 
Editor  of  the  American  Quarterly  Observer,  remarks,  "  Of  the 
New  York  Convention,  General  Jacob  Morris,  a  venerable  revo- 
lutionary patriot  was  President.  The  number  of  members  was 
about  250.  A  series  of  resolutions  was  passed,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  was  the  one,  declaring  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  to 
be  an  immorality.  Upon  this  resolution,  there  were  only  14  votes 
in  the  negative.  No  individual,  however,  dissented  from  the 
position,  that  the  traffic  is  immoral,  but  it  was  thought  to  be  inex- 
pedient, by  a  few  persons,  to  declare  it  to  be  so.  At  the  Con- 
necticut  Convention,  attended  by  130  delegates,  the  same  resolu- 
tion was  passed  unanimously.  All  things  in  this  country  are  mani- 
festly tending  to  one  result;  the  classing  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirits, 
and  the  traffic  in  them,  as  a  violation  of  the  moral  law;  a  crime, 
equally  injurious  to  men  and  displeasing  to  God." 

On  the   ISth  of  December  a  State   Temperance  Convention 


345]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  7 

was  held  at  Columbus  in  Ohio.  The  Governor  of  the  state,  who 
is  President  of  the  State  Temperance  Society,  was  one  of  the 
Committee  who  invited  the  meeting,  and  was  President  of  the 
Convention.  This  Convention  also  expressed  their  conviction  of 
the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  and  the  duty  of  its 
universal  abandonment.  A  Legislative  Temperance  Society  was 
formed,  shortly  after,  in  that  state;  and  measures  were  taken  by  the 
State  Society,  by  means  of  agents  and  the  press,  to  extend  infor- 
mation, and  form  Temperance  Societies  throughout  the  state. 

On  the  25th  of  December  a  similar  Convention  was  held  at 
Jackson  in  Mississippi;  and  on  the  7th  of  January  at  Frankfort  in 
Kentucky.  At  both  these  meetings  they  expressed  unanimously 
their  conviction  of  the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit; 
and  in  Mississippi  they  recommended  that  in  the  formation  of  all 
new  Temperance  Societies,  they  should  agree  to  abstain  from  the 
drinking  not  only  of  ardent  spirit,  but  also  of  wine.  In  Kentucky 
a  Legislative  Temperance  Society  was  formed,  and  the  members 
agree  to  abstain  from  the  drinking  of  both  ardent  spirit  and  wine, 
and  also  from  the  traffic  in  them.  The  Governor  of  the  state 
was  appointed  the  President,  and  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  who 
is  President  of  the  Senate,  was  appointed  one  of  the  Vice  Presi- 
dents. 

Numerous  and  striking  details  were  given,  by  physicians,  of  the 
destructive  effects  of  ardent  spirit,  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
Cholera  in  that  state.  In  some  way  an  impression  had  been 
made  upon  a  portion  of  the  people,  that  the  drinking  of  this  poison 
would  operate  as  a  preventive,  or  cure  of  this  disease.  Although 
in  direct  contradiction  to  the  whole  history  of  the  Cholera  from  its 
commencement,  in  its  progress  through  all  countries  up  to  that  time, 
yet  falling  in,  as  it  did,  with  the  natural  current  of  human  deprav- 
ity, at  a  time  when  men  were  ready  to  resort  to  almost  any  thing, 
from  which  they  hoped  for  security,  or  relief,  it  had  seriously 
obstructed  the  progress  of  the  Temperance  Reformation,  and  in 
the  judgment  of  the  physicians  had  occasioned  many  deaths.  A 
committee  of  distinguished  physicians  was  therefore  appointed  to 
investigate  this  subject,  and  publish  the  facts  for  the  information 
of  the  community.  And  it  is  hoped,  should  the  disease  return, 
that  its  fatal  effects  will  not  again  be  increased,  and  its  horrors 
augmented,  by  the  means  which  are  used  to  prevent  them.  The 
delusion  is  now  fast  vanishing,  and  several  thousands  were  added 
to  the  Temperance  Societies  the  last  year.  Nothing  appears  to  be 
wanting,  but  the  wise  and  efficient  labors  of  an  active  permanent 
agent,  to  render  the  cause,  with  the  divine  blessing,  triumphant 
throughout  that  state.  This  is  needful  in  every  state  of  the  Union. 
And  it  is  earnestly  recommended  to  the  friends  of  Temperance  in 
each  state,  to  procure  such  an  agent,  and  provide  such  means  for  his 


g  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [346 

support  that  ho  may  devote  his  whole  time  and  strength  to  this 
object.  Such  a  course  would  be  most  highly  economical,  both  as 
to  men  and  money.  One  thousand  dollars  expended  in  this  w?y, 
annually,  in  each  state,  would  probably  be  the  means  of  savir.g  to 
each,  a  million  dollars  a  year  ;  and  multitudes  of  oiher  blessings 
which  no  wealth  can  purchase,  the  loss  of  which  will  bring  many 
to  a  premature  grave  and  a  miserable  eternity. 

It  may  justly  be  doubted,  whether  the  same  means  can  in  any 
other  way  do  greater  good  to  mankind.  Not  only  would  the 
direct  influence  of  such  labors  be  highly  beneficial,  but  they  would 
tend  to  render  all  other  benevolent  efforts  much  more  successful. 
This  course  has  been  adopted  in  many  states,  and  nothing  would 
be  more  auspicious  to  human  welfare,  than  to  have  it  become 
universal. 

On  the  15th  of  January,  a  State  Temperance  Convention  was 
held  in  Vermont  ;  on  the  5th  of  February  in  Maine,  and  on  the 
12th  in  New  Jersey  ;  and  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month,  a  Con- 
vention of  Cities  was  held  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Each  of 
these  Conventions,  like  the  others  above  mentioned,  was  numer- 
ously attended,  and  at  each,  the  resolution  was  passed,  that  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  an  immorality;  and 
ought  to  be  universally  abandoned.  On  the  last  Tuesday  in  Feb- 
ruary, simultaneous  Temperance  Meetings  were  held  in  various 
cities,  towns,  and  villages,  through  this  and  other  countries.  In 
some  cases,  the  first  part  of  the  day  was  observed  as  a  season  of 
united  thanksgiving  for  the  success  of  this  cause,  and  of  united 
prayer  for  the  blessing  of  the  Lord  ever  to  attend  it.  In  the 
afternoon  reports  were  read,  and  addresses  were  delivered  on  the 
occasion.  Mujh  good  was  done,  and  a  new  impulse  given  exten- 
sively to  the  cause.  This  manner  of  annually  spending  the  last 
Tuesday  in  February,  appears  to  the  Committee  to  be  highly 
proper,  and  well  adapted  to  be  extensively  useful ;  and  they  would 
earnestly  recommend  that  it  be  universally  adopted.  In  many 
cases  it  will  be  a  convenient  time  for  the  annual  meeting  of  Legis- 
lative, or  State  Temperance  Societies  ;  and  in  all  cases,  meetings 
on  that  day,  will,  it  is  believed,  tend  greatly  to  promote  the  cause. 

On  that  day,  the  American  Congressional  Temperance  Society 
held  its  first  anniversary  in  the  Capitol  at  Washington.  In  the 
absence  of  the  President,  Honorable  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of 
War,  on  account  of  official  duties,  the  chair  was  taken  by  the 
Hon.  William  Wilkins,  Senator  from  Pennsylvania,  one  of  the  Vice 
Presidents.  The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer,  by  Rev. 
Thomas  H.  Stockton,  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  Church,  and 
Chaplain  of  Congress.  The  Hon.  Walter  Lowrie,  Secretary  of 
the  Senate,  and  Secretary  of  the  Society,  read  the  Annual  Report, 
which  was  adopted. 


347]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  9 

Resolutions  were  then  offered,  by  the  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  But- 
ler, Attorney-General  of  the  United  States  ;  the  Hon.  William 
Hendricks,  Senator  from  Indiana  ;  the  Hon.  William  L.  Pinck- 
ney,  Member  of  Congress  from  South  Carolina  ;  the  Hon.  George 
Grennell,  Member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts  ;  the  Hon. 
Arnold  Naudain,  Senator  from  Delaware  ;  the  Hon.  Daniel 
Wat-dwell  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York  ;  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Bell,  Senator  from  New  Hampshire  ;  the  Hon.  Harmon 
Denny.  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania  ;  the  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  ;  the 
Hon.  Felix  Grundy,  Senator  from  Tennessee  ;  the  Hon.  George 
N.  Briggs,  Member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts  ;  the  Hon. 
Theodore  Freelinghuysen,  Senator  from  New  Jersey  ;  and  the 
Hon.  Elisha  Whittlesey,  Member  of  Congress  from  Ohio. 

Addresses  were  made  by  Messrs.  Butler,  Hendricks,  Pinck- 
ney,  Wardwell,  Grundy,  and  Freelinghuysen.  Others  would 
have  spoken,  had  the  time  permitted.  Although  the  weather  was 
unpleasant,  the  spacious  Hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives  was 
filled  ;  and  till  a  late  hour,  the  audience,  by  their  profound  atten- 
tion, manifested  the  deep  interest  which  they  took  in  the  subject.* 

The  resolutions  and  the  addresses  have  since  been  printed  in 
an  octavo  pamphlet  of  forty  pages,  and  circulated  extensively 
through  the  country. f  It  is  hoped  that  it  may  be  sent  with  a  copy 
of  the  Constitution,  to  every  person  living,  who  has  been  a  Mem- 
ber of  Congress,  or  of  any  branch  of  the  National  Govern- 
ment, and  that  all  may  be  invited  to  join  the  Society.  Should  a 
similar  course  be  taken  by  each  Legislative  Temperance  Society, 
and  all  who  have  been  members  of  the  National  or  State  Govern- 
ments, and  who  have  retired  from  public  life,  enrol  their  names  as 
members  of  the  American  Congressional  Temperance  Society, 
or  some  State  Legislative  Temperance  Society,  they  might  become 
eminently  benefactors  of  their  country  and  the  world.  A  list  of 
their  names,  increasing  annually  by  the  accession  of  all  new  tem- 
perate Legislators,  might  be  kept  ;  to  be  a  bright  example  to  all 
the  youth  of  our  country,  and  a  powerful  means  of  leading  them 
onward  to  virtue,  usefulness  and  glory.  It  would  be  an  interest- 
ing item  in  the  future  page  of  our  country's  history  to  have  the 
names  of  her  renowned  sons,  who,  in  the  days  of  her  danger, 
were  enrolled  in  the  bright  constellation,  who  embodied  their  ex- 
ample and  influence  as  temperate  men,  for  the  intellectual  elevation, 
the  moral  purity,  the  social  happiness  and  the  eternal  good  of  their 
fellow  men.  The  influence  which  such  a  course  would  have  on 
the  purity  and  permanence  of  our  free  institutions  demands  the 
attention  of  every  true  patriot. 

"Appendix  A.  t  Appfndis  B. 

26 


ft)  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [348 

A  copy  of  the  Constitution  of  the  Legislative  Temperance 
Society  of  Kentucky  was  handed  to  one  of  her  legislators,  with  a 
request  that  he  would  sign  it.  He  looked  at  it,  and  said,  "  It  is  a 
good  thing.  We  have  a  Temperance  Society  in  my  district.  It  is 
composed  of  men  of  all  parties,  and  they  agree  not  to  vote  for 
any  man  of  any  party,  who,  at  elections,  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, furnishes  ardent  spirit.  During  the  last  election  none  was 
furnished.  Had  that  course  been  adopted  five  years  ago,  it  would 
have  saved  me  a  thousand  dollars."  Should  it  he  universally 
adopted,  it  would  save  millions  from  being  devoted  to  that  most 
detestable  species  of  bribery.  It  would  save  also  many  electors 
and  not  a  few  legislators  from  the  drunkard's  grave.  Instances 
are  known,  in  which  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  expended  by 
an  individual  and  his  friends  at  a  single  election.  But  let  all  join 
the  Temperance  Society,  and  act  according  to  its  principles,  and 
this  abomination  will  cease.  The  first  glance  of  a  corrected  pub- 
lic sentiment  will  wither  and  consume  it.  Much  has  already  been 
done.  And  a  change  of  views,  especially  among  the  higher  and 
more  influential  classes,  as  to  the  duty  and  utility  of  joining  Tem- 
perance Societies,  is  rapidly  increasing. 

A  distinguished  gentleman  from  Washington  writes,  "  The  late 
anniversary  of  the  Congressional  Temperance  Society,  has  given 
a  fresh  and  powerful  impulse  to  the  cause  throughout  the  whole 
land.  Under  the  sanction  of  such  authority,  thousands  of  hearts 
and  hands  will  rally  to  the  work,  that  otherwise  would  have  remain- 
ed unmoved.  Every  day  I  mark  in  the  various  classes  of  society, 
fiom  the  highest  departments  of  the  General  Government  to  the 
lowest  mechanic  and  laborer,  the  strong  irresistible  influence  of 
the  Temperance  Reformation.  Public  opinion  of  the  virtuous 
and  intelligent  every  where  frowns  on  the  traffic  and  manufacture, 
as  well  as  on  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors  ;  and  I  no  longer  doubt, 
that  this  land  is  destined,  under  the  influence  of  the  persevering 
effoits  of  the  friends  of  virtue,  to  be  freed  from  the  vice  of  intem- 
perance." 

A  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania  writes,  "  I  had  the 
honor,  a  few  days  ago,  of  receiving  the  Sixth  Annual  Report  of  the 
American  Temperance  Society  ;  for  which,  please  to  receive,  and 
tender  to  your  Society,  my  warmest  thanks.  I  have  read  the  doc- 
ument with  much  interest  and  pleasure.  I  am  free  to  confess  that 
until  about  a  year  since  I  felt  rather  opposed  to  the  exertions  of 
the  Temperance  Associations.  I  considered  them  in  the  light  of 
a  chimerical  speculative  concern,  and  calculated  to  draw  improper 
lines  of  demarkation  in  society.  But  I  am  free  to  acknowledge, 
that  I  have  very  much  changed  my  opinion  concerning  them.  I 
am  now  satisfied  that  no  institution  is  calculated  to  do  as  much 
good  with  the  same  mews  ;  and  that  if  ever  any  institution  could 


349]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  H 

be  said  to  have  its  origin  with  Him  who  is  the  great  source  of 
all  goodness,  it  is  that  one." 

A  gentleman  from  Virginia  states,  that,  in  his  opinion,  no  Socie- 
ties which  have  ever  been  formed,  have,  with  the  same  means,  in 
the  same  time,  done  so  much  for  the  good  of  mankind  ;  that  all 
must  acknowledge,  that  they  have  produced  a  most  beneficial  and 
astonishing  change  ;  and  that  if  the  friends  of  the  object  shall  per- 
severe, they  will  be  instrumental  in  banishing  intemperance  from 
our  land.  Nor  is  this  impression  confined  to  our  own  country.  A 
gentleman  from  England  writes,  "I  offer  to  your  country  my  sin- 
cere congratulations,  and  the  humble  testimony  of  my  delighted 
admiration,  on  the  signal,  wonderful,  and  most  beatifying  success 
of  this  great  plan  of  national  reformation  ;  and  which  even  at  this 
present  time,  to  say  nothing  of  what  will  be  done  in  years  to  come, 
is  a  more  glorious  achievement  than  that  which  effected  your 
political  independence.  It  is,  at  once,  far  more  difficult  and  far 
more  honorable  for  a  people  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  their  vices 
than  that  of  their  oppressors  ;  and  there  seems  to  me  nothing 
impossible  in  the  career  of  either  moral  or  political  greatness,  to 
that  country,  which,  by  one  grand  co-operative  effort,  can,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  deliver  itself,  as  yours  is  now  doing,  from  the 
curse  of  intemperance. 

"  In  the  triumphs  of  your  Temperance  Societies,  I  see  that 
which  makes  me  almost  tremble  as  an  Englishman,  but  which  fills 
me  with  hope,  and  gladness,  and  praise,  as  a  man  and  a  Christian. 
You  are  reading  lessons  to  all  nations,  and  to  all  coming  ages  ;  and 
unless  other  nations  are  wise  enough  to  profit  by  the  instruction 
you  are  thus  furnishing,  they  will,  in  the  end,  find  to  their  cost, 
that  you  are  among  them,  as  Samson  in  the  midst  of  his  foes  ; 
while  should  your  people  ever  abandon  this  cause  and  return  to 
their  former  habits,  other  nations  will  look  after  you  as  Samson 
was  seen  by  his  foes,  when  he  wTantonly  sacrificed  to  their  wily 
agent,  the  mysterious  lock  of  his  strength.  For  the  sake  of  the 
world,  my  dear  sir,  and  all  future  generations  of  mankind,  I 
beseech  you  to  go  on  in  this  splendid  course  of  national  virtue. 
I  have  patriotism  enough  to  wish  this  laurel  had  been  plucked  by 
my  own  country  ;  but  since  this  is  not  granted  to  us,  I  rejoice 
that  it  is  yours  :  it  is  a  precious  one ;  preserve  it  from  fading  by 
no  relaxation  of  zeal  in  the  cause,  and  deem  not  the  honor  com- 
plete, till  the  world  shall  talk  of  the  United  States,  as  a  land  with- 
out a  still,  and  without  a  drinker  of  ardent  spirit. 

"  If  you  ever  arrive  at  this  elevation  of  moral  greatness,  your 
example  must  and  will  be  felt  in  the  world.  Self-preservation,  if 
nothing  else,  will  drive  other  nations  into  imitation  of  your  exam- 
ple. In  this,  as  in  other  instances,  you  are  raised  up  by  the  Ruler 
of  the  Universe,  to  be  a  model  to  the  civilized  and  uncivilized 


12  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [350 

world.  Experiments  are  carried  on  at  this  moment,  upon  your 
territory,  the  results  of  which  are  to  be  felt  to  the  end  of  time.  If  I 
could  think  it  right  to  envy  any  one,  I  should  envy  you  Americans, 
in  reference  to  several  things  which  are  connected  with  your  inter- 
nal history.  You  are  to  prove  whether  religion  can  exist  and 
extend  without  the  aid  of  establishments.  You  are  to  prove  whether 
the  church  of  Christ  has  piety  and  liberality  enough  to  propagate 
itself  in  a  field  where  it  has  nothing  to  hinder  its  spread  but 
the  lukewarmness  of  its  members,  and  the  ordinary  depravity 
of  the  human  race.  I  trust  you  will  not  disappoint  the  expecta- 
tions which  are  pendent  upon  your  conduct.  Property,  talent, 
influence,  energy,  time,  must  all  be  put  in  requisition  for  the  work 
to  which  you  are  called.  The  Temperance  Cause  must  be  the 
pioneer  of  the  whole  confederacy  :  it  will  help  your  other  institu- 
tions, and  that  in  innumerable  ways.  The  American  who  does 
not  become  a  member  of  this  institution,  is  blind  to  one  of  the 
brightest  glories,  and  insensible  to  one  of  the  most  precious  hopes 
of  his  country." 

On  the  4th  of  March  a  State  Temperance  Convention  was 
held  at  Harrisburg,  in  Pennsylvania.  Here  also  a  deep  con- 
viction of  the  immorality  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  was  express-" 
Eu  by  many  ;  and  the  subject  was  earnestly  commended  to  the 
consideration  of  all  the  Temperance  Societies  in  the  State.  A 
Legislative  Temperance  Society  was  also  formed,  and  measures 
taken  to  quicken  and  extend  Temperance  operations  throughout 
that  important  part  of  our  country. 

A  Convention  has  also  been  held,  and  a  State  Temperance 
Society  formed  in  Missouri.  And  should  Temperance  and  its 
kindred  virtues  universally  prevail,  blessings  mighty  as  her  rivers 
and  exhaustless  as  her  soil,  would  break  forth  upon  her  people, 
and  flow  down  in  ever-growing  richness  and  variety  to  all  future 
ages.  Alabama  and  Louisiana  are  now  the  only  States  in  which  State 
Temperance  Societies  have  not  been  formed  ;  and  philanthropic 
men  are  making  efforts  to  procure  the  formation  of  one  in  each 
of  those  States.* 

In  May,  a  State  Temperance  Convention  was  held  at  Dover, 
in  Delaware.  Here,  also,  as  in  other  similar  bodies,  a  resolu- 
tion was  passed,  that,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Convention,  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be  univer- 
sally abandoned.  Thus  has  this  sentiment  been  expressed  by 
bodies  embracing  more  than  five  thousand  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
and  six  thousand  Christian  churches  ;  by  the  American  Congres- 
sional Temperance  Meeting,  by  the  United  States  Temperance 
Convention,  by  ten  State  Temperance  Conventions,  and  numer- 
oa*  ether  bodies  and  classes  of  men,  in  various  ways  and  places, 
ibfoughout  the  land. 

*  ie  .Alabama  such  a  Society  has  been  formed. 


351]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  '   13 

And  when  we  consider  that  these  bodies  were  composed  of 
men  of  all  professions  and  employments,  of  all  Christian  denom- 
inations, and  political  parties  ;  many  of  them,  venerable  for  age, 
for  wisdom  and  experience,  as  well  as  for  humane  and  benevolent 
efforts  ;  and  who  had  held,  or  were  then  holding,  some  of  the 
highest  and  most  responsible  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  people  ;  and 
that  after  full  deliberation  the  sentiment  was  expressed  with  great 
unanimity,  and  in  many  cases  without  a  dissenting  voice  ;  that  the 
publication  of  it  has  been  hailed  with  gladness,  been  echoed 
extensively  through  the  press,  and  met  the  cordial  response  of  the 
friends  of  humanity,  we  cannot  but  conclude  that  the  public  mind 
will  settle  down  upon  the  truth,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be 
used  as  a  drink,  is  immoral ;  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God,  and 
as  such  ought  to  be,  and,  so  far  as  men  obey  Him,  will  be  univer- 
sally abandoned. 

This,  the  Committee  view  with  unspeakable  interest.  It  is  a 
sure  pledge  of  certain  and  universal  triumph.  The  truth  that  the 
traffic  is  wicked,  strikes  the  evil  at  the  root;  and  with  a  blow  so 
strong  and  deep,  that  it  will  inevitably  destroy  it.  The  reception 
of  this  truth,  and  its  publication  by  the  wise  and  good,  with  cor- 
responding action,  is  the  sure  harbinger  of  Him,  who  is  Lord  over 
all,  and  who  is  coming  to  consume  this  evil  with  the  breath  of  his 
mouth,  and  to  destroy  it  with  the  brightness  of  his  appearing. 
And  while  the  Committee  look  to  the  prevalence  of  this  truth,  as 
the  sure  means  of  exterminating  this  abomination,  they  also  look 
to  it  as  the  only  effectual  means. 

Some  think  that  it  can  be  removed  by  representing  it  as  inexpe- 
dient, or  unprofitable  merely  ;  or  unfashionable  and  disreputable; 
and  confining  the  motives  for  its  removal  to  things  of  time  only, 
without  representing  it,  as  they  acknowledge  it  is  in  truth,  an 
immorality,  a  violation  of  the  moral  law,  and  binding  the  perpe- 
trators of  it,  according  to  their  deeds,  to  the  retribution  of  eter- 
nity. But  Leviathan  is  not  so  tamed.  Such  arrows  he  esteemeth 
as  stubble,  and  laugheth  at  the  shaking  of  such  spears.  That  it  is 
inexpedient  and  unprofitable  ;  that  it  is  fast  becoming  unfashion- 
able, and  is  now  to  a  high  degree  disgraceful,  as  well  as  injurious 
and  highly  unjust  towards  the  community,  are  all  truths,  truths  of 
importance,  which  may  be,  and  ought  to  be  used,  and  to  be  pressed 
on  the  public  attention. 

Yet  if  the  traffic  is  not  also  wicked,  a  violation  of  the  law  of 
God,  and  by  him  forbidden,  if  the  friends  of  temperance  do  not 
believe  this  truth  and  publish  it  with  its  evidence  to  all  people, 
vain  are  all  expectations  that  it  will  ever  be  exterminated.  There 
is  no  force  but  that  which  from  the  throne  of  God  fastens  on  the 
conscience,  and  binds  man  according  to  deeds,  irrevocably  to  an 
eternal  retribution,  that  is  strong  enough  to  say  to  this  ocean  of 
2  26* 


14  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [352 

death,  "Hitherto  shalt  thou  come,  but  no  farther;  and  here  let 
thy  violence  be  stayed."  And  while  this  sentiment  ought  to  be 
expressed,  as  it  ought  ever  to  be  held,  with  great  kindness,  so  it 
ought  to  be  expressed,  with  great  plainness ;  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  is  best  adapted  to  produce  universally,  the  deepest  con- 
viction, and  the  most  active  and  persevering  efforts. 

And  while  the  Committee  behold  this  truth  rising  and  extending 
its  influence,  inspiring  so  many  hearts,  employing  so  many  tongues, 
and  through  the  medium  of  the  press  going  onward,  as  on  the 
wings  of  the  wind,  from  conquering  to  conquer,  they  cannot  but  feel 
under  new  obligations  to  the  Author  of  all  good,  and  be  inspired 
with  new  hope,  that  the  world's  emancipation  from  this  foulest  of 
curses  is  approaching. 

More  than  7000  Temperance  Societies  have  already  been 
formed  in  the  United  States,  embracing,  it  is  supposed,  more 
than  1,250,000  members.  These  persons,  who  are  of  all  ages 
from  12  to  90  years,  of  all  varieties  of  condition,  profession,  and 
employment,  know  by  experience  that  ardent  spirit  is  needless ; 
and  multitudes  of  them  know  that  it  is  hurtful,  and  that  men  are  in 
all  respects  better  without  it.  Of  course  it  is  wicked  to  drink  it, 
or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others.  And  the  conviction  of  this 
truth  is  rapidly  extending  among  all  classes  of  people.  More 
than  3000  distilleries  have  been  stopped  ;  and  more  than  7000 
merchants  have  ceased  to  sell  the  poison.  Yet  there  are  some, 
who  wish  the  use  of  it  to  be  continued,  and  who  strive  to  believe 
according  to  their  wishes,  who  assert  that  such  statements  as  the 
above  are  not  true  ;  and  that  there  is  as  much  spirit  drunk  now  as 

ever.     Mr.  C ,  a  large  brandy  merchant  in  New  York,  lately 

met  an  active  friend  of  Temperance,  and  said  to  him,  "Why  are 
you  publishing  such  accounts  about  people  giving  up  the  use  of 
spirit  ?  there  is  no  truth  in  them  ;  there  is  as  much  drunk  now  as 
there  ever  was."  "I  have  got,"  said  Mr.  C ,  "a  com- 
plete answer  to  that,  and  one  that  will  convince  you,  that  what  you 

have  said  is  not  true.     You  know,  Mr.  F "  (a  man  famous  for 

the  accumulation  of  property,)  "do  n't  you  ?"     "  Yes."  "  Well,  I 

met  him  yesterday  on  this  very  s-pot,  and  he  said  to  me,  Mr.  C 

What  are  you  doing  ?  Why  do  you  publish  such  accounts  about 
ardent  spirit  ?"  "  I  told  him,  to  induce  people  not  to  drink  it." 
"Well,"  said  he,  "you  are  ruining  my  business.  I  used  to  sell 
forty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  copper  for  stills  to  the  people  of 
Connecticut   in    a   year  ;    and  now  I  don  't    sell  five  hundred. 

You  are  ruining  me."     And  that. Mr. ,  is  the  answer  to  what 

you  have  said."  A  diminution  of  thirty-nine  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  worth  of  copper  for  stills,  in  a  single  state,  in  a  year,  does 
not  look  much  like  there  being  as  much  ardent  spirit  made  as 
ever.     And  if  it  is  not  made  in  as  great  quantities,  it  is  not  drunk. 


353]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  15 

"  I    met   a    number   of  stills,"  said   Mr.  ,  of  Connecticut, 

"  on  their  way  to  the  brass-foundery,  to  be  melted  down  for 
andirons,  &c."  Thus  implements  of  death  are  converted  into 
implements  of  utility. 

More  than  1000  vessels  are  now  afloat  on  the  ocean  in  which 
ardent  spirit  is  not  used.  And  though  they  visit  every  clime  and 
at  all  seasons,  and  many  of  them  actually  go  round  the  globe,  the 
men  who  navigate  them  are  in  all  respects  better  than  when  they 
used  it.  So  manifest  and  great  has  been  the  increase  of  safety  to 
property  and  life,  that  an  Insurance  Company  in  Boston  has 
agreed  to  return  five  per  cent,  on  the  premium  of  every  vessel 
which  has  been  navigated  without  the  use  of  spirit.  This  is  done 
for  the  purpose  of  pecuniary  gain.  And  facts  abundantly  prove 
that  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  premium  on  vessels  in  which 
none  of  the  men  use  intoxicating  drink,  would  be  much  more 
profitable  to  the  underwriters  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  on  ves- 
sels in  which  they  use  it. 

A  gentleman  in  one  of  our  seaports  who  has  had  great  oppor- 
tunities for  observation,  and  has  paid  special  attention  to  this  sub- 
ject, writes, — "  I  am  happy  to  see  a  movement  in  the  Insurance 
Offices  in  your  city.  Let  them  generally  offer  a  premium  for 
temperance  ships,  and  it  will  be  of  immense  pecuniary  advantage 
to  all  concerned.  I  have  been  a  Notary  Public,  and  the  only  one 
in  this  port,  for  fourteen  years,  and  have  had  to  extend  Protests 
for  many  wrecked  vessels,  and  can  with  truth  say,  that  in  more 
than  a  moiety  of  the  cases,  the  disaster  would  not  have  happened 
if  no  rum  had  been  on  board. 

"Insurers  can  afford  to  return  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  pre- 
mium, if  the  vessel  insured  could  be  navigated  without  ardent 
spirits.  The  restriction,  to  be  effectual,  should  obtain  in  port  as 
well  as  at  sea  ;  for  many  of  the  disasters  which  have  happened 
immediately  after  leaving  port,  were  caused  by  the  liquor  drank 
on  shore,  and  before  it  had  lost  its  influence.  You  will  recollect 
the  case  of  Captain  Lawrence,  during  the  last  war.  Our  country's 
escutcheon  would  not  have  been  stained  by  that  defeat,  if  ardent 
spirit  had  not  assisted  the  Lion  and  the  Unicorn. 

"  They  ought  in  the  commencement  to  say  to  the  owners  of 
the  vessels — we  shall  discount  from  the  premium  twenty -five  per 
cent,  of  the  amount,  if  your  application  shall  contain  a  stipulation 
that  no  ardent  spirit  shall  be  drunk  by  the  master  and  men,  either 
in  or  out  of  port. 

"A  vessef  left  this  port  during  the  last  month  (February),  and 
was  lost  a  few  hours  after  she  sailed.  She  had  four  experienced 
seamen  on  board,  and  three  of  them  were  good  pilots.  Every 
man  was  a  confirmed  drunkard,  and  the  vessel  was  lost  wholly  in 
consequence  ef rum  !" 


16  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [354 

The  use  of  spirituous  liquor  by  officers  and  men  has  long  been 
among  the  chief  causes  of  shipwreck.  Should  Insurance  Offices 
generally  discriminate  between  temperance  ships  and  others,  it 
would  be  a  source  of  great  pecuniary  profit  ;  and  should  owners 
of  vessels  employ  none  who  use  the  poison,  to  navigate  them, 
they  would  save,  annually,  an  immense  amount  of  property,  and 
multitudes  of  valuable  lives.  This  subject  is  exciting  increased 
attention  not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  Europe. 

Baring,  Brothers,  &  Co.  of  London,  wrote  to  their  agent  in 
Amsterdam,  to  know  why  he  had  not  obtained  freights.  His 
reply  was,  that  there  were  American  vessels,  commanded  by 
Temperance  Captains,  taking  freight ;  and  while  they  remain,  none 
offer  to  other  ships. 

"  A  meeting  was  lately  requested  by  the  British  Consul  at  his 
office,  of  the  owners  and  agents  of  vessels  chiefly  engaged  in  the 
transport  of  steerage  passengers  from  Liverpool  and  Belfast,  in  order 
to  consider  the  most  efficacious  means  of  lessening  the  evils  and 
disasters  which  have  increased  so  alarmingly  of  late  to  passenger 
vessels — four  ships  having  been  wrecked  on  the  Jersey  coast  near 
the  city  during  the  present  year,  while  the  loss  of  vessels  bound  to 
Quebec,  and  of  lives,  has  been  truly  appalling.  In  one  sentiment 
all  concurred,  viz.  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  was  the  chief 
cause  of  many  evils  connected  with  the  passenger  trade,  and  that 
the  total  prohibition  of  spirits  on  board  such  vessels,  would,  more 
than  any  other  measure,  secure  safety  and  comfort — to  which 
might  be  added,  a  quick  passage. 

The  Consul  expressed  his  thanks  to'  the  gentlemen  for  their 
attendance  and  ready  disposition  to  come  into  the  measure  of 
alone  employing  vessels  for  the  conveyance  of  passengers,  on  board 
of  which  no  spirituous  liquors  shall  be  permitted  to  be  used,  and 
assured  them  that  he  would  by  the  next  packet  make  a  representa- 
tionto  his  Majesty's  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies,  who  takes 
so  lively  an  interest  in  affording  protection  and  comfort  to  Emi- 
grants proceeding  to  the  Canadas,  so  that  the  government  agents 
appointed  at  the  several  ports  of  embarcation  might  co-operate,  in 
order  to  encourage  those  vessels  which  come  into  the  salutary 
regulation." — (JVL"  Y.  Obs.) 

The  same  principle  applies  to  stage-coaches,  steamboats,  rail- 
cars,  and  all  means  of  public  conveyance.  The  men  who  drink 
spirit,  and  act  under  its  influence,  can  never  safely  be  trusted  with 
the  property  and  lives  of  men.  And  as  the  public  sensibility  has 
of  late  been  so  often  and  so  grossly  outraged  as  to  call  loudly  for 
legislative  inteference,  it  is  hoped,  that  those  who  may  be 
called  officially  to  consider  this  subject,  will  not  overlook  these 
facts. 

The  Directors  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester    Railroad    have 


355]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  17 

voted  not  to  employ  any  man  who  even  uses  ardent  spirit.  A 
number  of  stage  proprietors  have  done  the  same.  The  stock- 
holders of  the  Connecticut  river  and  the  Hartford  steamboat  com- 
panies, have  requested  the  directors  not  to  allow  any  ardent  spirit 
to  be  kept  for  sale  or  use  on  board  their  boats.  And  in  many  steam- 
boats in  various  parts  of  the  country  it  is  not  furnished.  And  it  is 
hoped  that  the  time  is  not  distant,  when  no  man  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  drunkard's  poison,  will  be  thought  fit  to  be  intrusted 
with  any  place  of  responsibility  in  the  country. 

More  than  10,000  drunkards  have,  within  five  years,  ceased  to 
use  any  intoxicating  drink.  And  when  sober  men  all  set  the 
example,  and  treat  drunkards  kindly,  it  has  been  found  compara- 
tively easy  to  induce  them  to  follow  it.  More  than  thirty  such 
cases  have  occurred  in  a  population  of  less  than  3000  souls.* 
Let  there  be  the  same  number  in  proportion  to  the  population, 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  it  would  make  more  than 
130,000.  The  salvation  of  drunkards  from  this  fell  destroyer,  is 
evidently  in  the  hands  of  sober  men.  And  if  they  will  take  the 
course  pursued  by  those  who  have  already  been  so  successful,  in 
less  than  five  years,  they  will  achieve  a  victory  such  as  creation 
never  saw  :  save  130,000  drunkards  from  this  double  death,  and 
preserve  from  falling  into  it  130,000  more.  Let  them  cease  to 
sell  the  poison,  cease  to  use  it,  and  go,  with  love  in  their  hearts, 
and  kindness  on  their  tongues,  to  those  who  are  now  twice  dead, 
and  well  nigh  buried,  and  it  will  cause  them  to  live.  Their  life 
or  death  is  in  the  hands  of  sober  men.  The  idea  that  the  kind 
bounties  of  Providence  can  be  converted  into  the  drunkard's 
poison,  drunkard-making  be  carried  on,  and  drunkenness  perpet- 
uated, by  drunkards  only,  is  absurd.  It  never  has  been,  and  it 
never  will  be  done.  They  have  not  the  intelligence,  the  pecuniary 
ability,  the  foresight,  the  method,  the  diligence,  and  persevering 
activity  in  wickedness,  which  the  prosecution  of  such  a  vile 
business  requires.  Should  they  attempt  it,  they  would  find  them- 
selves prostrated  ;  and  should  they  continue  it,  it  would  kill  them. 
It  actually  kills  a  great  portion  even  of  those,  who,  when  they 
enter  it,  are  sober  ;  and  it  destroys  more  than  twice  as  many,  in 
proportion,  of  their  children.  What  then  could  drunkards  do  with 
it  alone  ?  Should  all  the  drunkards  in  the  world  combine  to  carry 
it  on,  it  would  only  destroy  them  so  much  the  quicker  ;  and 
should  no  sober  man  touch  it,  they  could  have  no  successors,  and 
the  whole  mischief  would  cease.  But  they  will  not  attempt  to 
prosecute  it.  It  is  a  business  too  mean,  and  too  degrading,  even 
for  drunkards  to  prosecute  alone.  Let  all  sober  men  abandon  it, 
and  most  of  the  drunkards  will  abandon  it,  and  those  who  will  not, 

*  Appendix  C. 
2* 


IS  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [356 

must  soon  die,  and  the  last  remnant  of  drunkenness  will  die  with 
them.  It  is  thus  capable  of  perfect  demonstration,  that  drunkenness 
can  be  perpetuated  only  by  sober  men.  The  Committee  would, 
therefore,  put  it  to  the  conscience  of  every  sober  man,  Can  you, 
without  guilt,  enormous  guilt,  aid  in  perpetuating  that  current 
which  is  bearing  on  its  bosom  hundreds  of  thousands  in  the  United 
States,  toward  interminable  wo  ?  and  which  is  enticing,  in  every 
generation,  from  the  peaceful  shores  of  sobriety  and  comfort,  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  more,  to  be  borne  onward  upon  the  same  fiery 
stream,  towards  the  same  eternal  doom  ?  No,  you  cannot  do  it, 
without  tremendous  guilt.  And  if  you  continue  to  be  knowingly 
accessory  to  the  drunkard's  vice  and  ruin,  you  must  expect,  in 
righteous  retribution,  to  be  partakers  of  the  drunkard's  woes.  And 
you  will  expose  your  children,  to  have  your  iniquities  visited  on 
them,  from  generation  to  generation. 

A  rum-seller  in  Massachusetts  was  visited  by  the  wife  of  one  of 
his  customers,  who  besought  him  not  to  sell  the  poison  to  her 
husband.  It  made  him  so  cruel  to  her  and  her  children,  that  she 
could  not  endure  it.  But  he  let  her  know  that  if  her  husband 
wanted  rum,  he  should  have  it.  She  went  away  to  mourn  in 
silence,  and  to  try  to  guard  her  children  against  the  direful  influence 
of  him,  who,  for  money,  was  killing  their  father.  He  continued 
to  sell.  His  customers,  from  time  to  time,  became  drunkards. 
Their  estates  fell  into  his  hands.  He  became  a  rich  man.  At 
length  he  died  ;  and  went  as  poor  to  judgment,  as  if  he  had  gained 
nothing  by  destroying  his  neighbors.  His  sons  inherited  his  es- 
tate. They  moved  into  the  Western  country.  The  eldest  open- 
ed a  store,  and  prosecuted  the  business  of  his  father.  He  soon, 
like  his  father's  customers,  became  a  drunkard,  and  sunk  into  an 
ignominious  grave.  His  brother  took  his  place,  and  prosecuted 
his  business.  He  too  became  a  drunkard,  and  was  shortly  with 
his  brother,  in  the  drunkard's  grave.  The  third  and  only  remain- 
ing son  took  the  property  and  prosecuted  the  business.  And 
when  our  Secretary,  the  last  winter,  passed  that  way,  he  was  a 
drunkard,  staggering  about  the  streets.  And  as  the  father  wit- 
nesses his  iniquities  visited  upon  his  children,  and  beholds  them 
coming  in  such  a  rapid  succession  to  mingle  with  those,  whom  his, 
and  their  business  have  ruined,  in  the  place  prepared  for  them, 
docs  he  not  feel,  that  should  the  way  of  destroying  others,  appear 
even  right  unto  a  man,  the  end  thereof  is  the  way  of  death.  "  It 
is  found,"  says  Judge  Piatt,  "that  of  the  tavern  keepers  and 
retailers  of  ardent  spirit  in  the  State  of  New  York  during  the  last 
forty  years,  more  than  two-thirds  have  become  drunkards,  and 
reduced  their  families  to  poverty  and  wretchedness.  Let  us  re- 
double our  efforts,  by  kind  entreaty  and  friendly  admonition,  to 
save  them  from  their  own  worst  enemies,  themselves."     And  can 


357]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  19 

a  business  which  destroys,  and  there  is  reason  to  fear  for  both 
worlds,  so  many  of  those  who  prosecute  it,  and  often  reduces 
their  families  to  wretchedness,  and  makes  drunkards  of  their  chil- 
dren, be  continued,  without  tremendous  guilt  ?  And  when  we 
look  at  the  multitudes  of  others  who  are  ruined  by  it,  and  witness 
its  tendency  for  ever  to  ruin  all  who  come  under  its  influence,  and 
to  perpetuate  its  destructive  effects,  to  all  future  generations,  the 
guilt  of  it  rises  to  an  overwhelming  magnitude. 

And  diis  guilt  with  its  odium,  the  public  sentiment,  under  the 
guidance  of  truth,  is  fastening  more  and  more  where  it  belongs, 
on  the  men  who  continue  to  prosecute  the  business  which  perpet- 
uates the  evil.  This  is  evident  from  the  voice  of  the  press,  and 
from  the  manner  in  which  that  voice  is  responded  to,  by  the  com- 
munity. 

Says  the  able  and  eloquent  author  of  Temperance  Tales, 
100,000  copies  of  whose  writings  have,  within  a  few  months,  been 
called  for  by  the  public,  and  who  by  his  efforts  on  this  subject  is 
becoming  a  benefactor  of  his  race,  "  The  respectability  of  those, 
who  denounce  the  traffic,  as  immoral,  entitles  their  opinions, 
publicly  and  formally  delivered  before  the  world,  to  the  most  care- 
ful consideration  of  the  whole  human  family.  The  purity  of  their 
motives  is  beyond  suspicion.  The  universality  of  their  character 
is  obvious  :  they  come  from  all  quarters  of  the  world,  and  lay 
aside,  as  they  approach  this  great  common  field  of  philanthropy, 
the  discriminating  badges  of  their  various  professions,  and  political 
opinions,  and  religious  creeds.  However  unable  to  agree,  upon 
other  matters,  they  heartily  concur  in  the  opinion,  and  they  solemn- 
ly pronounce  that  opinion,  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a 

DRINK  AND  THE  TRAFFIC  THEREIN  ARE  MORALLY  WRONG,  AND 
OUGHT  TO  BE  ABANDONED  THROUGH  THE  WORLD.  This  Opin- 
ion has  been  repeated  again  and  again  ;  by  the  Congressional  Con- 
vention ; — by  the  great  Convention,  at  Philadelphia,  from  all  the 
States  ; — by  the  highly  respectable  Convention  at  Worcester  ; — 
by  the  New  York  State  Convention,  at  Utica  ; — and  more  recently, 
by  the  Convention  in  the  State  of  Connecticut ;  and  since,  by  all 
the  other  Conventions,  aforementioned.  Many  of  the  most  eminent 
men,  of  this  and  other  countries,  have  been  forward  to  promulgate 
and  sustain  this  formal  declaration.  The  reasons,  on  which  it 
rests,  have  been  scattered  abroad  upon  the  earth,  like  the  leaves 
of  the  trees.  They  have  fallen  upon  every  dwelling,  like  the 
drops  of  rain.  Journals,  magazines,  circulars,  reports,  tracts, 
tales,  full  of  information  and  interesting  narrative,  have  been  dis- 
tributed with  an  unsparing  hand. 

"  What  then,  in  the  shape  of  an  argument,  do  the  venders  of 
spirituous  liquors  propose,  in  justification  of  their  continued  traf- 
fic ? — Absolutely  nothing. — For  a  time,  it  was  undoubtedly  be- 


20  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [35S 

lieved  by  many,  that  the  temperance  reform  would  pass  away,  like 
a  vapor.  Under  this  belief,  the  voice  of  worldly  wisdom  whis- 
pered to  the  venders,  that  their  strength  lay  in  silence  and  perfect 
inaction.  The  continual  accession  of  strength,  to  the  side  of 
Temperance,  and  the  daily  diminishing  demand  for  the  drunkard's 
beverage,  began,  at  last,  to  impair  that  belief. — Indications  of 
restlessness  were  occasionally  exhibited.  '  At  a  large  and  re- 
spectable meeting  of  the  grocers  in  the  city  of  Boston,  it  icas 
unanimously  resolved,  that  they  looked,  with  deep  regret,  upon  the 
proceedings  of  the  self-styled  friends  of  temperance.''  Nothing 
could  be  more  natural,  than  that  a  body  of  men,  who  sold  ardent 
spirit,  should  look  with  regret  upon  the  efforts  of  those,  who  were 
combining  to  persuade  the  world  not  to  drink  it  any  more.  But 
the  friends  of  temperance  were  not  likely  to  be  diverted  from  a 
course,  upon  which  the  Father  of  Mercy  might  be  supposed  to 
vouchsafe  a  smile  of  approbation,  because  the  venders  of  strong 
drink  looked  upon  that  very  course,  through  the  dust  of  self- 
interest,  with  '  deep  regret.''  " 

Says  the  same  writer  in  another  place,  "  What  is  the  drunk- 
ard's" death?  Is  it  a  natural,  or  an  accidental  death  ?  It  is  obvi- 
ously not  a  natural  death.  The  drunkard  dies,  and  upon  a  careful 
examination  after  death,  the  skilful  physician,  the  highest  authority 
on  such  a  point  in  a  court  of  law,  declares  without  hesitation  that 
his  death  was  occasioned  by  spirituous  liquor.  Can  such  a  death 
be  denominated  accidental  ?  The  acts  of  the  dram-seller  who  sells, 
and  of  the  drunkard  who  drinks  the  alcohol,  are  voluntary  acts  ;  and 
the  proof,  clear  and  incontestible,  that  life  is  shortened  and  death 
produced  by  the  use  of  it,  are  as  universally  known  and  appreciat- 
ed, as  that  death  is  produced  by  arsenic.  Here,  then,  is  the  will 
and  the  knowledge  ;  the  will  to  do  the  act,  with  a  full  knowledge 
of  its  probable  effects.  Such  can  neither  be  an  accidental  death, 
nor  a  natural  death.  Can  it  be  possible  that  when  a  drunkard  dies 
of  hard  drinking,  somebody  is  guilty  of  murder  ? — If  a  man,  says 
Hawkins,  in  his  pleas  of  the  Crown,  does  an  act  of  which  the 
probable  consequence  may  be,  and  eventually  is,  death,  such 
killing  may  be  murder,  though  no  murder  be  primarily  intended. 
And  when  the  dram-seller  does  such  an  act,  of  which  the  proba- 
ble consequence  may  be,  and  eventually  is,  death,  such  killing  may 
be  murder,  though  no  murder  may  be  primarily  intended."  But 
though  we  do  not  call  such  killing  murder,  and  though  it  be  not 
prosecuted  as  such  in  human  courts,  when  we  consider  the  numer- 
ous murders  and  other  deaths  to  which  the  traffic  in  spirit  leads,  it 
is  perfectly  evident  that  the  gains  of  that  traffic  are  the  price  of 
blood;  and  as  such,  will  be  viewed  and  treated  at  the  judgment  day. 
Says  the  editor  of  the  Religious  Magazine, 
"  All  the  useful  and  honest  employments  of  life  produce  value. 


359]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  21 

They  produce  it,  either  by  bringing  a  useful  article  from  the 
ground,  or  by  changing  the  form  of  the  raw  material  to  a  more 
useful,  or,  in  other  words,  a  more  valuable  one,  in  a  manufactory, 
or  by  adding  to  its  value  by  change  of  place,  in  commerce.  In 
all  cases  the  individual  creates  value,  either  by  producing  the  arti- 
cle in  which  he  deals,  or  by  altering  its  form  or  its  place.  Now  a 
portion  only  of  this  value,  comes  to  him;  the  other  portion  goes 
to  others,  whom  he  supplies,  as  an  inducement  for  them  to  deal 
with  him.  So  that  for  all  the  value  he  produces  for  himself,  he 
must,  on  the  average,  produce  an  equal  amount  for  others. 

For  example,  a  carpenter  builds  a  store  in  a  country  village, 
and  receives  for  it  a  thousand  dollars;  and  of  this  we  will  suppose 
that  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  is  his  clear  gain.  Now  the 
transaction  is  not  a  profitable  one  to  him  alone.  The  trader,  who 
contracts  with  him,  finds  the  contract  of  pecuniary  advantage  to 
himself,  or  he  would  not  make  it.  By  putting  a  portion  of  his 
property — the  thousand  dollars — into  the  form  of  a  store,  he  has 
added  to  its  value  to  him,  or  he  would  not  have  incurred  the  risk 
and  responsibility  of  doing  it.  And  probably  it  was  as  much  for 
his  advantage  to  employ  the  carpenter,  as  it  was  for  the  carpenter 
to  be  employed. 

We  say  probably  as  much,  because  sometimes  in  transactions 
of  this  nature,  the  advantage  may  lie  mainly  on  one  side;  but  gene- 
rally in  bargains  among  men,  the  advantage  will  be  mutual  and 
equal,  and  the  man  who  makes  ten  dollars  for  himself  in  any  hon*- 
est  and  useful  calling,  enables  the  man  he  deals  with  to  make  ten 
dollars  too. 

There  is  another  view  we  may  take  of  making  money  in  fair  and 
honorable  ways.  Suppose  a  physician  goes  to  reside  in  a  town, 
and  in  the  course  of  thirty  years  he  lays  by,  in  the  honest  practice 
of  his  profession,  ten  thousand  dollars.  This  money  tnay,  strictly 
speaking,  be  considered  a  certificate  from  the  community  of  the 
amount  of  good  he  has  done  to  others  during  his  residence  there. 
In  fact,  we  may  imagine  that  upon  one  coin  is  inscribed,  '  This 
certifies  that  the  bearer  saved  a  child  from  death  in  a  fever;'  on 
another,  '  This  piece  of  money  is  a  token  of  the  relief  and  com- 
fort which  medical  skill  procured  for  an  aged  man  in  his  last  days,' 
&c.  For  it  is  very  evident  that  if  the  physician  understood 
his  profession,  and  was  faithful  in  the  practice  of  it,  for  every  fee 
he  must  have  rendered  an  equivalent  of  useful  service  to  a  family, 
either  in  saving  life,  or  assuaging  and  mitigating  suffering.  The 
greater  the  amount,  then,  of  property  he  has  accumulated  by  fair 
and  honorable  means,  the  greater  is  the  evidence  of  the  good  he 
has  done. 

There  is  a  very  common  but  most  groundless  impression,  that 
when  a  man  makes  his  fortune  among  a  people,  he  gets  the  money 
27 


23  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [360 

out  of  them,  as  the  phrase  is;  whereas,  it  is,  as  we  have  shown, 
in  all  fair  and  honest  business,  just  the  reverse;  he  does  just  as 
much  good  to  the  community  as  he  does  to  himself.  The  whole- 
sale dealer,  who  clears  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year  by  importation, 
enables  a  hundred  retailers  to  clear,  in  all,  an  equal  sum,  by  retail- 
ing his  cargoes;  and  the  retailers,  in  turn,  by  exchanging  the 
foreign  commodity  for  the  farmer's  products,  enable  the  thousand 
farmers  to  clear  a  like  sum,  though  it  may  come  to  them  not  in 
cash,  but  in  the  means  of  comfort  and  enjoyment. 

These  remarks,  however,  will  apply  only  to  the  production  and 
exchange  of  articles  which  really  contribute  to  the  enjoyment  or 
comforts  of  life,  and  to  services  which  are  really  useful  in  dimin- 
ishing the  sufferings  or  adding  to  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

There  are,  however,  kinds  of  business,  in  which  a  man  does 
make  his  money  out  of  the  community.  He  takes  away  from 
others  just  as  much  as  he  makes  himself.  For  instance,  if  he  man- 
ufactures and  sells  a  worthless  article,  he  takes  the  money  of  his 
purchasers,  and  they  receive  no  equivalent.  If  a  manufacturer  of 
counterfeit  money  gives  a  counterfeit  bill  in  exchange  for  a  cer- 
tain commodity,  it  is  plain  that  he  actually  steals  that  commodity. 
He  really  makes  money  out  of  the  community. 

The  counterfeit  dealer  has,  however,  this  thing  in  his  favor, 
which  some  people  have  not,  viz.  that  what  he  leaves  in  the  hand 
of  his  customers,  as  the  fictitious  representative  of  what  he  takes 
away  from  them,  does  no  hurt.  They  carry  the  counterfeit  bill  a 
few  days  in  their  pockets  until  they  find  its  worthlessness,  and 
then  they  simply  lay  it  aside.  It  does  not  bite  them,  nor  poison 
them.  It  does  not  destroy  their  health,  and  shorten  their  days:  it 
does  not  beggar  their  children,  nor  break  their  wives'  hearts,  nor 
ruin  their  souls. 

In  regard,  however,  to  the  man  who  takes  his  neighbor's  prop- 
erty, and  in  exchange  for  it  gives  him  rum,  we  fear  we  cannot  go 
by  halves,  in  speaking  of  either  aspect  of  the  transaction.  In  the 
first  place,  he  receives  his  neighbor's  money  wholly  without  an 
equivalent.  The  rum  has  no  value  to  him  whatever.  It  is  worth- 
less, and  wholly  worthless,  so  that  the  seller  takes  the  money  of 
another  without  making  any  return.  This  is  dishonest — not  legal- 
ly so,  we  admit,  but  really  so  in  the  eye  of  God. 

But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  it.  The  article  which  is  put  into 
the  miserable  victim's  hand,  to  induce  him  to  give  up  his  money, 
is  not  merely  worthless — it  is  destructive.  Its  direct,  well  known, 
universal,  and  inevitable  tendency  is,  to  kill; — to  kill  soul  and 
body.  All  he  wants  is  his  customer's  three  cents!  He  does  not 
wish  to  kill  him.  He  only  gives  him  what  kills  him,  because  that 
is  the  only  way  to  get  his  three  cents.  He  does  not  wish  to  de- 
stroy the  man  for  the  very  sake  of  destroying  him.     He  does  not 


361]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  23 

desire,  on  its  own  account,  to  ruin  his  character,  and  take  away 
his  property,  and  break  his  wife's  heart,  and  beggar  and  starve  his 
children.  No;  his  object  is  only  to  get  the  man's  money,  and  he 
does  these  things,  because  that  seems  to  him  the  shortest  way  to 
secure  his  three  cents.  All  the  money  he  makes,  is  worse  than 
taken  dishonestly.  It  is  the  price  of  blood!  Every  dollar  he  re- 
ceives, instead  of  being  a  certificate  of  the  amount  of  good  he  has 
done,  is  a  certificate  of  the  misery  and  ruin  he  has  spread  around 
him.  His  coin  should  be  inscribed,  '  This  certifies  that  the 
bearer  has  made  a  man  beat  his  wife.'  'This  half  dollar  is  a 
memorial  of  four  nights  of  wretchedness,  which  were  given  to  a 
whole  family  in  exchange  for  it. '  '  This  bag  of  money  certifies, 
that  the  possessor  has  sent  two  of  his  neighbors  to  the  jail,  and 
their  wives  and  children  to  the  poorhouse.'  What  money  for  a 
man  to  hold  in  his  coffers!  It  is  the  price  of  blood!" 

This  sentiment  is  abundantly  supported  by  facts.  In  the  bill 
of  mortality  of  the  city  of  New  York,  it  is  stated,  that  seventy-six 
were  killed  by  intemperance  the  last  year.  And,  says  an  energetic 
writer,  in  a  document  presented  to  the  Common  Council  by  the 
City  Temperance  Society,  "  To  this  number  how  many  ought  to 
be  added  of  the  thirty  suicides,  how  many  of  the  hundred  dying 
of  apoplexy,  how  many  of  the  sixty-nine  of  casualty,  how  many 
of  the  twelve  hundred  and  fifty-one  of  consumption,  how  many  of 
the  five  hundred  and  ten  of  convulsions,  how  many  of  the  three 
hundred  and  five  of  dropsy  in  the  head,  how  many  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  drowned,  how  many  of  the  two  hundred 
and  forty-nine  of  peripneumony,  might  be  properly  added  to  the 
list  of  intemperate,  can  only  be  known  at  the  great  day,  when  all 
secrets  will  be  revealed.  It  is  believed  that  one-fourth  at  least  of 
the  enumerated  lists  might  be  charged  to  intemperance  ;  but  sup- 
pose one-sixth  of  the  numbers  mentioned  in  the  specified  lists 
was  added  to  the  seventy-six  returned  intemperate,  the  matter 
would  stand  thus  :  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
in  the  enumerated  list,  one-sixth  of  which  is  four  hundred  and 
seventy-one,  add  the  seventy-six,  and  the  number  is  five  hundred 
and  forty-seven  expiring  of  a  licensed  poison.  Awful  thought  ! 
they  are  all  adults,  and  most  of  them  men,  and  the  heads  of  fami- 
lies !  Look  at  five  hundred  shipwrecked,  no,  rumwrecked,  fami- 
lies, the  heads  of  which  are  dead,  leaving,  on  an  average,  a  wife 
and  four  children,  making  two  thousand  and  five  hundred  sur- 
vivors, heirs  of  shame  and  sorrow  !" 

And  when  we  recollect  that  the  College  of  Physicians  in  Phil- 
adelphia, after  a  careful  examination,  have  given  it  as  their  opin- 
ion that  seven  hundred  deaths  were  occasioned  by  intemperance, 
in  that  city,  in  a  year  ;  and  the  physicians  of  Annapolis  have  given 
it  as  their  opinion,  that  half  the  men  over  eighteen  years  of  age, 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [362 

who  died  in  one  year  in  that  city  were  killed  in  the  same  way,  that 
more  than  half  the  men  who  for  years  have  died  in  other  places, 
were  known  to  be  drunkards,  who  can  doubt  but  that  five  hundred 
and  forty-seven  is  far  less  than  the  number  who  have  been  annu- 
ally killed  by  it,  in  the  city  of  New  York.  An  equal  number  in 
proportion  to  the  population,  with  those  who,  in  the  judgment  of 
the  physicians,  were  killed  by  intemperance  in  Philadelphia, 
would  be  in  New  York  more  than  eight  hundred,  and  in  the 
United  States  more  than  fifty-six  thousand.  Surely  then  the  gains 
of  the  traffic,  which  produces  such  destruction,  is  the  price  of  blood. 

Nor  are  these  men  screened  from  the  guilt  of  blood,  by  the 
plea,  that  they  do  not  intend  to  kill,  but  only  to  make  money. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  even  Judas,  in  betraying  his  master, 
intended  to  kill  ;  but  only  to  make  money.  But  when  death  fol- 
lowed, and  he  in  remorse  cast  down  the  money,  those  who  took 
it  up  said,  "  It  is  the  price  of  blood."  And  with  the  knowledge 
which  those  have  who  traffic  in  this  poison,  or  which  they  might 
have,  how  much  more  is  their  gain,  the  price  of  blood.  Were 
all  those  whose  lives  have  been  shortened  by  it,  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  to  arise  from  their  graves,  they  would  make  an  army 
of  more  than  a  million  of  men.  And  can  those  who  prosecute 
a  business  of  such  results,  when  inquisition  is  made  for  blood,  be 
screened  by  the  plea,  that  they  did  not  intend  to  kill,  they  only 
wished  for  money  ? 

When  the  owner  of  the  ox  which  was  wont  to  push,  did  not 
keep  him  in,  but  let  him  go  out,  though  he  did  not  intend  to  kill, 
but  only  wished  for  money,  yet  if  he  did  kill,  "  the  ox,"  said 
Jehovah,  "shall  be  stoned  and  the  owner  put  to  death."  (Ex. 
xxi.  29.)  Admit  the  correctness  of  this  decision,  of  the  Judge  of 
the  earth,  and  who  can  avoid  the  conclusion,  that  he  who  continues 
the  business  of  sending  out  the  means  of  death,  or  when  owned 
by  him,  permitting  it  to  go  out,  will,  by  Jehovah,  be  condemned. 
Every  conscience  enlightened,  condemns  him  now,  and,  without  a 
change,  that  condemnation  will  be  eternal. 

A  publication  has  been  issued  by  the  Revival  Tract  Society, 
from  the  pen  of  A.  W.  Ives,  M.  D.,  New  York,  entitled,  "  A  Dia- 
logue between  a  Dealer  in  Ardent  Spirits  and  his  Conscience;" 
which  has  also,  during  the  past  year,  had  an  extensive  circulation- 
The  following  is  a  specimen  of  its  contents. 

"  Conscience. — How  is  it  possible  that  you  do  not  see  this 
traffic  to  be  sinful  ?  Violence,  brutal  licentiousness,  the  basest 
crimes,  poverty,  misery  and  death  in  their  most  frightful  forms  flow 
directly  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit — nay  more  than  all  these, 
there  is  nothing  else  which  so  effectually  shields  the  heart  against 
the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  paralyses  the  gracious  afFec- 
ilons. 


363]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1S34.  25 

Dealer. — The  morality  of  this  traffic,  I  conceive  to  depend 
entirely  upon  circumstances.  It  may  be  wrong  for  one  man  to 
continue  it — to  another  it  is  right  because  it  would  be  ruin  for 
him  to  abandon  it.  Now  among  my  own  Christian  friends,  there 
is  one  whose  whole  property  is  merged  in  a  firm  engaged  in  the 
commission  business;  their  consignments  consist  chiefly  in  West 
India  produce,  a  portion  of  which  is  rum.  Those  from  whom 
they  receive  it,  care  nothing  about  the  temperance  reformation, 
and  would  immediately  transfer  their  whole  business  to  other  con- 
signees, if  these  should  refuse  to  receive  and  sell  their  rum. 
Moreover,  it  so  happens  that  my  friend  is  the  only  religious  man 
in  the  concern,  and  whatever  he  may  wish  to  do,  his  partners  will 
not  hazard  their  whole  business  by  refusing  to  sell  the  spirit  which 
their  neighbors  will  sell  if  they  do  not.  Thus  situated,  is  it  the 
duty  of  a  man  to  give  up  a  respectable  and  profitable  connection? 
I  know  another  house  that  advanced  large  sums  to  West  India 
planters  before  the  temperance  reformation  began,  and  stipulated 
to  receive  their  produce;  that  is,  rum,  sugar  and  molasses,  and 
reimburse  themselves  by  the  sale  of  it.  A  large  proportion  ol 
their  debt  is  still  due,  and  their  obligation  still  binding.  Now 
would  it  be  right  for  that  concern  to  violate  their  contract,  and 
thereby  bring  ruin  upon  themselves,  and  perhaps  upon  many  of 
their  creditors,  by  refusing  to  receive  and  sell  the  rum? 

Conscience. — Cases  like  these  I  have  not  failed  to  consider. 
They  present  difficulties,  so  long  as  one  is  trying  to  serve  both 
God  and  mammon.  But,  let  a  dealer  in  ardent  spirit,  even  in  the 
peculiar  circumstances  you  have  related,  exercise  the  decision  of 
character  which  becomes  him  as  a  man  of  business,  and  all  em- 
barrassment will  be  removed.  If  he  comes  to  the  determination 
to  be  influenced  by  mere  worldly  expediency,  and  to  set  aside  the 
higher  motive  of  religious  obligation,  he  will  continue  his  business. 
He  will  regard  it  as  the  best  policy,  because  it  promotes  his  tem- 
poral interest;  and  this  is,  in  his  estimation,  paramount  to  his 
obligation  to  God,  to  his  fellow  man,  and  to  his  own  soul.  If 
occasionally  he  is  disquieted,  it  will  be  but  for  a  moment,  for  he 
will  evade  the  truth,  so  as  to  make  himself  believe,  that  while 
pursuing  his  worldly  interest,  he  is  doing  his  duty.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  he  sincerely  desires  to  be  governed  by  a  rule  of  righteous- 
ness, if  the  path  of  duty  is  obscure,  he  will  look  for  light  to  the 
precepts  of  the  gospel;  and  then  instead  of  doubting  whether  his 
business  is  sinful,  because  the  Bible  does  not  literally  forbid  the 
sale  of  rum,  he  will  look  at  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion. 
And  whenever  a  man  does  this  honestly,  he  will  deduce  from 
almost  every  page  of  that  sacred  volume,  a  principle  as  clear  and 
as  imperative  as  a  'thus  saith  the  Lord,' — a  principle,  which 
hinds  him  by  an  everlasting  obligation,  not  to  injure  his  neighbor; 
3  27* 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [364 

not  to  be  an  offence  to  him;  not  to  partake  of  his  sins.  When  he 
finds  himself  engaged  in  a  sinful  traffic,  in  vain  may  avarice  plead 
that  he  was  involved  in  it  ignorantly,  and  that  to  forsake  it  will  be 
disastrous  to  his  fortune;  in  vain  may  ambition  plead  that  his  influ- 
ence will  be  impaired,  or  hypocrisy  press  the  claims  of  charity 
and  religion;  the  Christian  will  reply,  '  I  have  nothing  to  do  with 
such  consequences.  When  God  reveals  to  me  his  will,  I  must 
obey  it.'  When  the  young  man  in  the  gospel  was  commanded 
to  sell  all  his  goods  and  follow  Christ,  no  doubt  he  might  have 
pleaded,  with  plausible  casuistry,  the  innocent  and  useful  emplov- 
ment  of  his  money,  the  benefit  of  his  liberality,  and  the  salutary 
influence  of  his  example.  Can  the  dealers  in  ardent  spirit  whose 
cases  you  have  mentioned,  do  as  much?  And  why  have  they  less 
reason  to  fear  that  they  too  will  be  sent  away  from  the  presence 
of  their  Master,  sorrowing?  He  laid  down  his  life  for  them,  and 
what  is  the  sacrifice  they  are  called  to  make  for  him,  even  in 
these  most  trying  cases?  Is  it  greater  than  our  own  patriot  fathers 
made  for  the  freedom  of  their  country?  They  did  not  hesitate  to 
pledge  'their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their  honor.'  Nor  did 
they  shrink  from  their  obligation;  and  does  the  professing  Chris- 
tian pledge  less  when  he  enters  into  covenant  with  God?  And 
what  if  one  of  those  revolutionary  heroes  should  have  furnished 
arms  and  ammunition  for  the  enemy,  because  his  partner  happened 
to  be  a  tory,  or  because  he  had  stock  on  hand,  and  could  not 
otherwise  dispose  of  it  profitably;  or  because  he  had  contracted 
for  a  large  quantity  of  these  articles  in  France  before  the  war 
began,  and  could  not  possibly  land  them  in  this  country,  or  oth- 
erwise dispose  of  them,  than  to  sell  them  to  British  ships  of  war 
that  were  blockading  our  coasts?  What  would  have  been  thought 
of  the  hero's  patriotism?  He  would  have  been  stigmatized  and 
punished  as  a  traitor.  And  is  a  rum-dealing  Christian  doing  less 
for  the  enemies  of  religion?  Is  he  less  faithless  to  the  King  of 
kings  ? 

Deal. — I  acknowledge  this  subject  is  embarrassed  with  difficul- 
ties, but  it  is  a  morbid  conscience  that  sees  and  feels  them  to  be 
all  upon  one  side.  Shall  I  deprive  myself  of  the  influence  which 
I  now  have  in  society  and  in  the  church,  by  abandoning  my  busi- 
ness and  voluntarily  becoming  a  poor  man  ?  Shall  my  children 
be  cut  off  from  the  means  of  education,  of  a  comfortable  support, 
and  the  expectations  of  a  respectable  standing  in  the  community  ? 
Will  it  be  no  injury  to  the  cause  of  religion,  that  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  withdraw  my  subscription  from  the  bible,  missionary,  and  tract, 
and  education  societies  ?  Others  will  continue  the  traffic  if  I  do 
not  ;  and  if  abuses  result  from  it,  I  am  not  answerable  for  them. 

Con. — These,  indeed,  are  plausible  reasons  for  persisting  in  a 
sinful  employment,  and  the  man  of  the  world  who  is  laying  up  his 


365]  SEVENTH  REPORT — 1334.  27 

treasures  here,  may  dwell  upon  them  with  complacency.  The 
thought  recurs,  and  presses  itself  upon  me, — I  am  a  professing 
Christian,  and  '  if  I  love  not  my  brother  I  abide  in  death.'  If  J 
seek  not  his  salvation,  I  can  have  no  hope  of  my  own.  How 
then  can  I  sustain  my  influence  in  society,  and  in  the  church,  at 
the  expense  of  the  temperance,  wealth,  comfort,  happiness  and 
respectability,  of  perhaps  thousands  of  my  fellow  beings  ;  nay,  at 
the  expense  of  the  salvation  of  their  immortal  souls  ?  Shall  my 
children  be  educated,  and  hundreds  and  thousands  of  others 
thereby  be  reduced  to  ignorance  and  poverty  and  ignominy  ?  Can 
the  cause  of  religion  be  supported  by  making  drunkards,  and 
thieves,  and  robbers,  and  widows,  and  orphans,  and  paupers  ? 
What,  though  there  be  those  who  grow  rich  by  gathering  the 
wages  of  iniquity,  and  who  fatten  upon  the  blood  of  their  fellow 
men  ;  whose  hearts  are  unmoved  by  the  bitter  cries  of  the  widow 
and  the  fatherless,  and  who  see  nothing  in  the  death-bed  of  des- 
pair to  move  their  commiseration  ;  I  am  a  Christian — and  can  I 
have  feelings  and  interests  in  common  with  such  men  ?  How  can 
the  Christian  talk  of  aiding  the  cause  of  religion  by  the  gains  of  a 
traffic,  which,  but  for  the  long-suffering  and  omnipotent  grace  of 
God,  would  ere  this  have  driven  religion,  sorrowing,  from  the  earth. 
What  poison,  like  intemperance,  ever  entered  the  very  heart  of 
the  church,  was  diffused  through  every  portion  of  her,  and  trans- 
mitted a  loathsome  plague,  from  one  generation  to  another  ?  Has 
not  the  church  sickened  and  groaned,  from  year  to  year,  and  from 
age  to  age,  in  consequence  of  this  evil  ?  Have  not  her  children 
apostatised  and  fled  from  their  mother's  bosom  and  their  father's 
house,  and  become  vagabonds  and  wanderers  in  the  earth  ?  And 
for  what,  and  why  should  /  participate  in  perpetuating  an  evil  upon 
the  earth,  so  destructive  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  happiness  of 
my  fellow  men,  and  so  offensive  to  the.  God  of  Heaven  ?  Let 
those  loho  will,  continue  in  this  traffic,  I  dare  not  be  a  partaker  in 
their  sins. 

Deal,. — I  foresee  that  we  shall  be  obliged  to  wind  up  our  busi- 
ness ;  that  whether  right  or  wrong  I  shall  never  be  permitted  to 
pursue  it  peaceably.  I  have  already  been  subjected  to  more 
trouble  than  I  would  have  borne,  had  it  not  been  for  an  imperative 
sense  of  duty  to  the  church  and  to  my  family.  It  is  not  an  easy 
matter  for  one,  situated  as  I  am,  to  change  or  abandon  a  business 
that  yields  him  a  comfortable  support,  when  he  will  be  obliged  in 
consequence  of  it,  to  change  the  style  of  his  living,  and  perhaps 
absolutely  to  reduce  his  family  to  poverty.  I  will  consent,  how- 
ever, not  to  increase  my  stock,  but  to  contract  my  business  and 
take  measures,  to  dispose  of  the  concern  as  soon  as  I  can  do  it 
advantageously. 

Con. — And  pray,  do  you  distrust  the  power,  wisdom,  or  tbe 


28  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [366 

faithfulness  of  God,  that  you  so  reluctantly  rely  upon  his  kind 
providence  in  taking  rare  of  you,  while  you  are  yielding  obedience 
to  an  obvious  duty  ?  Are  you  not  making  gold  your  hope,  and 
saying  to  the  fine  gold,  Thou  art  my  confidence  ?  If  God  grants 
your  request,  in  this  worldly  expediency,  be  assured  he  will  send 
leanness  into  your  soul.  It  is  a  compromise  with  the  mammon  of 
unrighteousness,  unworthy  of  the  character  and  inconsistent  with 
the  faith  of  a  Christian.  I  have  no  fear  of  seeing  what  the 
Psalmist  never  saw,  '  the  righteous  forsaken  nor  his  seed  begging 
bread  ;'  and  instead  of  insulting  the  Most  High,  by  virtually  pro- 
claiming my  independence  of  him,  I  will  confidently  and  cheer- 
fully commit  my  all  into  his  hands,  with  the  resolution  of  Job, 
that  'though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him.'  If  the  traffic 
you  are  engaged  in  be  sinful,  it  will  never  be  more  so  than  it  is 
to-day  ;  and  to  continue  it  in  the  clear  light  of  this  truth,  is  not 
merely  delaying  repentance,  it  is  presumptuously  tempting  God  ; 
and  I  am  afraid,  that  while  you  are  winding  up  your  business,  he 
will  take  away  your  soul." 

A  similar  publication  has  been  issued  by  the  American  Tract 
Society,  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  Pres- 
ident of  Amherst  College,  entitled,  "  Debates  of  Conscience  with  a 
Distiller,  a  wholesale  Dealer,  and  a  Grocer."  The  following  is  the 
close  of  the  debate  with  the  distiller  : 

"  Conscience — But  I  cannot  close  this  interview  till  I  have  related 
one  of  the  dreams  to  which  I  just  alluded.  It  was  only  last  night 
that  I  suffered,  in  this  way,  more  than  tongue  can  tell.  The  whole 
terrific  vision  is  written  in  letters  of  fire  upon  the  tablet  of  my 
memory  ;  and  I  feel  it  all  the  while  burning  deeper  and  deeper. 

I  thought  I  stood  by  a  great  river  of  melted  lava,  and  while  I 
was  wondering  from  what  mountain  or  vast  abyss  it  came,  sud- 
denly the  field  of  my  vision  was  extended  to  the  distance  of  sev- 
eral hundred  miles,  and  I  perceived  that,  instead  of  springing  from 
a  single  source,  this  rolling  torrent  of  fire  was  fed  by  numerous 
tributary  streams,  and  these  again  by  smaller  rivulets.  And  what 
do  you  think  I  heard  and  beheld,  as  I  stood  petrified  with  aston- 
ishment and  horror  !  There  were  hundreds  of  poor  wretches 
struggling  and  just  sinking  in  the  merciless  flood.  As  I  contem- 
plated the  scene  still  more  attentively,  the  confused  noise  of 
boisterous  and  profane  merriment,  mingled  with  loud  shrieks  of 
despair,  saluted  my  ears.  The  hair  of  my  head  stood  up — and 
looking  this  way  and  that  way,  I  beheld  crowds  of  men,  women 
and  children,  thronging  down  to  the  very  margin  of  the  river — 
some  bowing  down  to  slake  their  thirst  with  the  consuming  liquid, 
and  others  convulsively  striving  to  hold  them  back.  Some  I  saw 
actually  pushing  their  neighbors  headlong  from  the  treacherous 
bank,  and  others  encouraging  them  to  plunge  in,  by  holding  up  the 


367]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  29 

fiery  temptation  to  their  view.  To  ensure  a  sufficient  depth  of 
the  river,  so  that  destruction  might  be  made  doubly  sure,  I  saw  a 
great  number  of  men,  and  some  whom  I  knew  to  be  members  of 
the  church,  laboriously  turning  their  respective  contributions  of 
the  glowing  and  hissing  liquid,  into  the  main  channel.  This  was 
more  than  I  could  bear.  I  was  in  perfect  torture.  But  when  I 
expostulated  with  those  who  were  nearest  to  the  place  where  I 
stood,  they  coolly  answered,  This  is  the  icay  in  which  we  get  our 
living  ! 

But  what  shocked  me  more  than  all  the  rest,  and  curdled  every 
drop  of  blood  in  my  veins,  was  the  sight  which  I  had  of  this  very 
distillery  pouring  out  its  tributary  stream  of  fire  !  And  0,  it 
distracts,  it  maddens  me  to  think  of  it.  There  you  yourself  stood 
feeding  the  torrent  which  had  already  swallowed  up  some  of  your 
own  family,  and  threatened  every  moment  to  sweep  you  away  ' 
This  last  circumstance  brought  me  from  the  bed,  by  one  convul- 
sive bound,  into  the  middle  of  the  room  ;  and  I  awoke  in  an  agony 
which  I  verily  believe  I  could  not  have  sustained  another 
moment. 

Dis. — I  will  feed  the  torrent  no  longer.  The  fires  of  my  dis- 
tillery shall  be  put  out.  From  this  day,  from  this  hour,  I  renounce 
the  manufacture  of  ardent  spirits  for  ever." 

The  following  is  a  part  of  the  debates  between  Conscience 
and  the  wholesale  Dealer  : 

"  Con. — 0,  when  I  think  of  what  you  are  doing  to  destroy  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  men,  I  cannot  rest.  It  terrifies  me  at  all  hours 
of  the  night.  Often  and  often  when  I  am  just  losing  myself  in 
sleep,  I  am  startled  by  the  most  frightful  groans  and  unearthly 
imprecations,  coming  out  of  these  hogsheads.  And  then,  those 
long  processions  of  rough  made  coffins,  and  beggared  families, 
which  I  dream  of,  from  nightfall  till  daybreak,  they  keep  me  all 
the  while  in  a  cold  sweat,  and  I  can  no  longer  endure  them. 

Deal. — Neither  can  I.  Something  must  be  done.  You  have 
been  out  of  your  head  more  than  half  the  time  for  this  six  months. 
[  have  tried  all  the  ordinary  remedies  upon  you  without  the  least 
effect.  Indeed  every  new  remedy  seems  only  to  aggravate  the 
disease.  Oh,  what  would  not  I  give  for  the  discovery  of  some 
anodyne  which  would  lay  these  horrible  phantasms.  The  case 
would  be  infinitely  less  trying,  if  I  could  sometimes  persuade  you, 
for  a  night  or  two,  to  let  me  occupy  a  different  apartment  from 
yourself  ;  and  when  your  spasms  come  on,  one  might  as  well  try 
to  sleep  with  embers  in  his  bosom,  as  where  you  are. 

Con. — Would  it  mend  the  matter  at  all,  if,  instead  of  sometimes 
dreaming,  I  were  to  be  always  wide  awake  ? 

Deal. — Ah,  there  's  the  grand  difficulty-     For  I  find  that  when 
vou  do  wake  up,  you  are  more  troublesome  than  ever.      Then  you 
3* 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETT.  [368 

fire  always  harping  upon  my  being  a  professor  of  religion,  and 
bringing  up  some  texts  of  Scripture,  which  might  as  well  be  let 
alone,  and  which  you  would  not  ring  in  my  ears,  if  you  had  any 
regard  to  my  peace,  or  even  your  own.  More  than  fifty  times, 
within  a  month,  have  you  quoted,  '  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them.'  In  fact,  so  uncharitable  have  you  grown  of  late,  that  from 
the  drift  of  some  of  your  admonitions,  a  stranger  would  think  infc 
but  little,  if  any,  better  than  a  murderer.  And  all  because  some 
vagabond  or  other  may  possibly  happen  to  shorten  his  days  by 
drinking  of  a  little  of  the  identical  spirit  which  passes  through  my 
hands. 

Con. — You  do  me  bare  justice  when  you  say,  that  I  have  often 
reproved  you,  and  more  earnestly  of  late  than  I  formerly  did. 
But  my  remonstrances  have  always  been  between  you  and  me 
alone.  If  I  have  charged  you  with  the  guilt  of  hurrying  men  to 
the  grave  and  to  hell,  by  this  vile  traffic,  it  has  not  been  upon  the 
house-top.  I  cannot,  it  is  true,  help  knowing  how  it  grieves  your 
brethren,  gratifies  the  enemies  of  religion,  and  excites  the  scorn 
of  drunkards  themselves,  to  see  your  wharf  covered  with  the  fiery 
element ;  but  I  speak  only  in  your  own  ear.  To  yourself  I  have 
wished  to  prove  a  faithful  monitor,  though  I  have  sad  mis- 
givings, at  times,  even  with  regard  to  that.  You  will  bear  me 
witness,  however,  that  I  have  sometimes  trembled  exceedingly, 
for  fear  that  I  should  be  compelled,  at  last,  to  carry  the  matter  up 
by  indictment  to  the  tribunal  of  Eternal  Justice. 

To  avoid  this  dreadful  necessity,  let  me  once  more  reason  the 
case  with  you  in  few  words.  You  know  perfectly  well  that  ardent 
spirit  kills  its  tens  of  thousands  in  the  United  States  every  year, 
and  there  is  no  more  room  to  doubt  that  many  of  these  lives  are 
destroyed  by  the  very  liquor  which  you  sell,  than  if  you  saw  them 
staggering  under  it  into  the  drunkard's  grave.  How  then  can  you 
possibly  throw  off  blood-guiltiness,  with  the  light  which  you  now 
enjoy?  In  faithfulness  to  your  soul,  and  to  Him  whose  vicege- 
rent I  am,  I  cannot  say  less  than  this,  especially  if  you  persist  any 
longer  in  the  horrible  traffic. 

Deal. — Pardon  me,  my  dear  Conscience,  if  under  the  excite- 
ment of  the  moment  I  complained  of  your  honest  and  continued 
importunity.  Be  assured,  there  is  no  friend  in  the  world,  with 
whom  I  am  so  desirous  of  maintaining  a  good  understanding  as 
with  yourself.  And  for  your  relief  and  satisfaction,  I  now  give 
you  my  solemn  pledge,  that  I  will  close  up  this  branch  of  my 
business  as  soon  as  possible.  Indeed,  I  have  commenced  the 
process  already.  My  last  consignments  are  less,  by  more  than 
one  half,  than  those  of  the  preceding  year  ;  and  I  intend  that, 
when  another  year  comes  about,  my  books  shall  speak  still  more 
decidedly  in  my  favor. 


369]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  31 

Con. — These  resolutions  would  be  perfectly  satisfactory,  if 
they  were  in  the  present  tense.  But  if  it  was  wrong  to  sell  five 
hundred  casks  last  year,  how  can  it  be  right  to  sell  two  hundred 
this  year,  and  one  hundred  next  ?  If  it  is  criminal  to  poison  forty 
men  at  one  time,  how  can  it  be  innocent  to  poison  twenty  at 
another  ?  If  you  may  not  throw  a  hundred  fire  brands  into  the 
city,  how  will  you  prove  that  you  may  throw  one  ? 

Dial. — Very  true,  very  true  —  but  let  us  wave  this  point  for 
the  present.     It  affects  me  very  strangely. 

Con. — How  long,  then,  will  it  take  to  dry  up  this  fountain  of 
death  ! 

Deal. — Do  n't  call  it  so,  I  beseech  you ;  but  I  intend  to  be 
entirely  out  of  the  business  in  two  or  three  years,  at  farthest. 

Con. — Two  or  three  years  !  Can  you,  then,  after  all  that  has 
passed  between  us,  persist  two  or  three  years  longer  in  a  contra- 
band traffic  ?  I  verily  thought,  that  when  we  had  that  long  con- 
ference two  or  three  months  ago,  you  resolved  to  close  the  con- 
cern at  once  :  and  that,  when  we  parted,  I  had  as  good  as  your 
promise,  that  you  would.  Surely  you  cannot  so  soon  have 
forgotten  it. 

Deal. — No  ;  I  remember  that  interview  but  too  well — for  I 
never  was  so  unhappy  in  my  life.  I  did  almost  resolve,  and  more 
than  half  promise,  as  you  say.  But  after  I  had  time  to  get  a  little 
composed,  I  thought  you  had  pushed  matters  rather  too  far  ;  and 
that  I  could  convince  you  of  it,  at  a  proper  time.  I  see,  however, 
that  the  attempt  would  be  fruitless.  But,  as  I  am  anxious  for  a 
compromise,  let  me  ask  whether,  if  I  give  away  all  the  profits  of 
this  branch  of  my  business  to  the  Bible  Society,  and  other  reli- 
gious institutions,  till  I  can  close  it  up,  you  will  not  be  satisfied ! 

Con. — Let  me  see.  Five  hundred  dollars,  or  one  hundred 
dollars,  earned  to  promote  the  cause  of  religion  by  selling  poison  ! 
By  killing  husbands,  and  fathers,  and  brothers,  and  torturing  poor 
women  and  children  !  It  smells  of  blood — and  can  God  possibly 
accept  of  such  an  offering  ? 

Deal. — So  then,  it  seems,  I  must  stop  the  sale;  at  once,  or 
entirely  forfeit  what  little  charity  you  have  left. 

Con. — You  must.  Delay  is  death — death  to  the  consumer  at 
least ;  and  how  can  you  flatter  yourself  that  it  will  not  prove  your 
own  eternal  death  ?  My  convictions  are  decisive,  and  be  assured, 
I  deal  thus  plainly  because  I  love  you,  and  cannot  bear  to  become 
your  everlasting  tormentor." 

The  following  is  the  close  of  the  debate  between  Conscience 
and  the  Retailer. 

"  Retailer — Ah,  I  see  what  you  are  aiming  at ;  and  really,  it  is 
too  much  for  any  honest  man,  and  still  more  for  any  Christian  to 
bear.     You  know  it  is  a  long  time  since  I  have  pretended  to  answer 


32  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [370 

half  your  captious  questions.  There  's  no  use  in  it.  It  only 
leads  on  to  others  still  more  impertinent  and  puzzling.  If  I  am 
the  hundredth  part  of  that  factor  of  Satan  which  you  would  make 
me,  I  ought  to  he  dealt  with  and  cast  out  of  the  church  at  once  ; 
and  why  do  n't  my  good  brethren  see  to  it  ? 

Con. — That  's  a  hard  question,  which  they,  perhaps,  better 
know  how  to  answer  than  I  do. 

Ret. — But  have  you  forgotten,  my  good  Conscience,  that  in 
retailing  spirit,  I  am  under  the  immediate  eye  and  sanction  of  the 
laws  ?  Mine  is  no  contraband  traffic,  as  you  very  well  know.  I 
hold  a  license  from  the  rulers  and  fathers  of  the  state,  and  have 
paid  my  money  for  it  into  the  public  treasury.  Why  do  they 
continue  to  grant  and  sell  licenses,  if  it  is  wrong  for  me  to  sell  rum  ? 

Con. — Another  hard  question,  which  I  leave  them  to  answer 
as  best  they  can.  It  is  said,  however,  that  public  bodies  have  no 
soul,  and  if  they  have  no  soul,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  they  can 
have  any  conscience  ;  and  if  not,  what  should  hinder  them  from 
selling  licenses  !  But  suppose  the  civil  authorities  should  offer  to 
sell  you  a  license  to  keep  a  gambling  house,  or  a  brothel,  would 
you  purchase  such  a  license,  and  present  it  as  a  salvo  to  your 
conscience  ? 

Ret. — I  tell  you  once  more,  there  is  no  use  in  trying  to  answer 
your  questions  ;  for  say  what  I  will,  you  have  the  art  of  turning 
every  thing  against  me.  It  was  not  always  so,  as  you  must  very 
distinctly  remember.  Formerly  I  could  retail  hogshead  after 
hogshead  of  all  kinds  of  spirits,  and  you  slept  as  quietly  as  a  child. 
But  since  you  began  to  read  these  Reports  and  Tracts  about 
drinking,  and  to  attend  Temperance  meetings,  I  have  scarcely  had 
an  hour's  peace  of  my  life.  I  feared  that  something  like  this 
would  be  the  effect  upon  your  nervous  temperament,  when  you 
began ;  and  you  may  recollect  that  I  strongly  objected  to  your 
troubling  yourself  with  these  new  speculations.  It  now  grieves 
me  to  think  that  I  ever  yielded  to  your  importunity  ;  and  beware 
that  you  do  not  push  me  to  extremities  in  this  matter,  for  I  have 
about  come  to  the  resolution  that  I  will  have  no  more  of  these 
mischievous  pamphlets,  either  about  my  store  or  tavern  ;  and  that 
your  temperance  agents  may  declaim  to  the  winds  and  walls,  if 
they  please. 

Con. — I  am  amazed  at  your  blindness  and  obstinacy.  It  is 
now  from  three  to  five  years  since  I  began  to  speak  (though  in  a 
kind  of  indistinct  under-tone  at  first)  against  this  bloody  traffic.  I 
have  reasoned,  I  have  remonstrated,  and  latterly  I  have  threatened 
and  implored  with  increasing  earnestness.  At  times  you  have 
listened,  and  been  convinced  that  the  course  you  are  pursuing,  in 
this  day  of  light,  is  infamous,  and  utterly  inconsistent  with  a 
Christian  profession.     But  before  your  convictions  and  resolutions 


371]  SEVENTH     REPORT.— 1834.  33 

bavre  time  to  ripen  into  action,  the  love  of  money  legains  the 
ascendency  ;  and  thus  have  you  gone  on  resolving  and  relapsing, 
and  re-resolving :  one  hour  at  the  preparatory  lecture,  and  the 
next  unloading  whiskey  at  your  door  ;  one  moment  mourning  over 
the  prevalence  of  intemperance,  and  the  next  arranging  your 
decanters  to  entice  the  simple — one  day  partaking  of  the  cup  of 
the  Lord  at  his  table,  and  the  next,  offering  the  cup  of  devils  to 
your  neighbors — one  day  singing, 

'  All  that  I  have  and  all  I  am, 
I  consecrate  to  Thee  ;  ' 

and  the  next,  for  the  sake  of  a  little  gain,  sacrificing  your  char- 
acter, and  polluting  all  you  can  induce  to  drink  !  0,  how  can  I 
hold  my  peace  ?  How  can  I  let  you  alone  ?  If  you  will  persist, 
your  blood,  and  the  blood  of  those  whom  you  thus  entice  and 
destroy,  be  upon  your  own  head.  Whether  you  will  hear,  or 
whether  you  will  forbear,  I  shall  not  cease  to  remonstrate  ;  and 
when  I  can  do  no  more  to  reclaim  you,  I  will  sit  down  at  your 
eate,  in  the  bitterness  of  despair,  and  cry  JVLurderl  Murder  ! ! 
MURDER !  ! ! 

Ret. — [Pale  and  trembling.)  Go  thy  way  for  this  time  ;  when 
I  have  a  convenient  season  I  will  call  for  thee." 

Such  are  the  sentiments  inculcated  by  the  press  on  this  moment- 
ous subject.  More  than  4,500,000  copies  of  various  publications, 
containing  similar  views,  have  been  issued  the  past  year,  by  the 
New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  and  vast  numbers  by  other 
Temperance  Societies  and  individuals  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. The  eagerness  with  which  they  are  sought,  while  they 
inculcate,  with  the  greatest  plainness  and  power,  the  gross  immoral- 
ity and  enormous  wickedness  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  shows 
that  this  truth  commends  itself  to  the  conscience,  and  is  producing 
permanent  settled  conviction  in  the  minds  of  sober  men  through- 
out the  nation.  And  it  moves  them  to  a  course  of  efforts  which 
they  are  resolved,  if  the  Lord  will,  never  to  relinquish,  till  the 
traffic  is  exterminated  throughout  the  globe.  This  may  appear 
to  some  to  be  visionary.  But  the  truth,  attended  by  the  power 
of  the  God  of  truth,  is  mighty,-  and  will  prevail.  Already  its  in- 
fluence on  this  subject,  is  extending  throughout  the  world. 

Numbers  in  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland,  and  throughout  the 
Provinces  of  that  kingdom,  have  denounced  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  as  immoral;  and  more  than  150,000  have  joined  their  Tem- 
perance Societies.  And  though  they  meet  with  some  peculiar  dif- 
ficulties in  that  kingdom,  yet  facts  demonstrate  that  perseverance  in 
proper  efforts,  will,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  overcome  them,  and 
the  cause  there,  as  well  as  here,  universally  triumph. 

From  Sweden  a  few  years  ago  we  received  an  application  for 
28 


^4  ametucan  temperance  society.  [372 

the  Constitution  oT  the  American  Temperance  Society  and  a  copy 
of  all  the  Temperance  publications  which  had  been  printed  in  the 
United  States.  They  were  furnished,  and  numerous  Temperance 
associations  have  been  formed  in  that  kingdom.  They  have  also 
established  a  periodical,  which  is  published  in  the  Capital,  once  in 
two  weeks,  called,  The  Stockholm  Temperance  Herald. 
The  Crown  Prince  has  lately  presided  at  a  Temperance  meeting 
in  that  city,  and  openly  proclaimed  himself  the  Patron  of  Tempe- 
rance Societies.  He  has  also  issued  his  proclamation,  and  called 
the  attention  of  all  classes  to  the  subject. 

A  few  months  ago  we  received  from  that  country  an  interesting 
document,  entitled,  "Temperance  and  Political  Economy, 
discussed  with  reference  to  Sweden;"  addressed  to  the 
Representatives  of  the  Swedish  nation,  at  the  next  Diet.  It  is  a 
closely  printed  octavo  of  216  pages;  and  shows  with  great  clear- 
ness not  only  the  importance,  but  the  necessity  of  the  Temperance 
Reform  to  the  prosperity,  if  not  to  the  existence  of  the  Swedish 
nation.  In  a  population  of  about  3.000,000,  the  author  states 
that  they  have  170,000  distilleries;  and  consume  annually 
60,104,570  canns  (45,078,427  gallons)  of  distilled  liquor;  at  an 
expense  to  the  consumers  of  62,177,636  Rix  dollars,  (about 
$65,000  000.) 

"This  quantity  and  this  value,"  says  the  writer,  "  passes  an- 
nually down  Swedish  throats,  of  a  drink,  of  which  the  first  Physi- 
cians and  Physiologists  of  all  countries,  declare,  that  it  contains 
not  a  single  particle  of  nutritious  substance." 

Well  he  may,  as  he  does,  urge  on  the  government  of  his  coun- 
try, in  order  to  escape  national  ruin,  the  necessity  of  Temperance 
Societies,  and  upon  all  his  countrymen  the  duty  of  joining  them. 
"  The  principle  of  Christian  charity,"  he  says,  "makes  it  the  duty 
of  every  man  who  loves  his  neighbor,  to  abstain  from  ardent  spirit. 
Nothing  else  without  this,  will  save  multitudes  from  perdition. 
What  shall  we  say  of  our  country,  that  country  whose  inhabitants 
were  once  distinguished  for  their  industry,  prudence,  temperance, 
morality,  and  noble  Christian  spirit?  That  country  has  now  be- 
come a  by-word  among  the  nations,  and  a  subject  of  scorn,  as 
branded  with  the  appellation  of  the  country  of  drunkenness. "  He 
then,  with  all  the  ardor  of  a  patriot  and  philanthropist,  urges  the 
subject  on  the  immediate  attention  of  the  Government,  and  all 
classes  of  the  people  as  of  vital  importance  to  all  the  great  interests 
of  the  nation.  And  if  they  are  not  lost  to  all  sense  of  duty,  interest, 
and  safety,  his  exhibitions  must,  we  think,  make  a  deep  and  abiding 
impression.  To  arouse  and  animate  them,  he  points,  as  do  patriots 
and  philanthropists  of  other  countries,  to  the  example  and  efforts 
vf  America;  and  in  view  of  what  we  have  done,  endeavors  to 
persuade  them  to  engage  in  the  same  blessed  cause. 


373]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  35 

It  has  often  impressed  the  minds  of  your  Committee,  and  ought, 
we  think,  to  impress  the  minds  of  all  members  of  this  Society  and 
friends  of  this  cause,  that  we  are  engaged  in  a  work  which  is  of 
vital  importance  not  only  to  our  country,  but  to  all  nations;  and 
increasing  numbers  in  all  countries,  as  they  become  acquainted  with 
this  subject,  begin  to  view  it  in  the  same  momentous  light. 

From  Dorpot,  the  seat  of  the  first  University  in  Russia,  a  gen- 
tleman writes,  and  expresses  the  deep  interest  which  they  there 
begin  to  feel  on  the  subject  of  translating  into  the  Esthonian  lan- 
guage, Temperance  tracts.  "  Intemperance,"  he  says,  "is  the 
great  curse  of  all  the  people  of  the  North.  The  provinces  are 
full  of  distilleries  and  the  destruction  of  property,  and  soul,  is  very 
great. "  He  had  just  finished  the  translation  of  a  Temperance  tract 
of  the  Berlin  Society  in  Prussia,  and  was  about  to  translate  the 
Essay  of  our  countryman,  the  Rev.  Prof.  Hitchcock,  on  the  sin 
of  making  and  vending  ardent  spirit,  with  which  he  expressed  him- 
self greatly  pleased. 

He  then  proceeds  to  urge  strongly,  that,  to  which  some  in  this 
country,  in  view  of  the  Committee,  without  any  good  reason,  have 
been  opposed;  viz.  that  every  Temperance  tract  should  be  "  a 
preacher  of  righteousness;"  and  urge  men  to  be  temperate,  by 
motives  drawn,  not  merely  from  time,  but  also  from  eternity;  that  the 
guilt,  as  well  as  the  folly  of  intemperance  as  a  violation  of  the  Divine 
law  ;  and  that  in  view  of  a  judgment  to  come,  men  should  be  en- 
treated on  this  subject,  as  well  as  others,  "to  be  reconciled  to  God." 

This  view,  the  Committee  have  no  doubt,  is  fundamental. 
Every  reformation  from  sin  and  death,  to  be  successful,  must  be 
prosecuted  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  ;  by  motives  drawn  from 
the  cross  of  Christ,  and  with  reference  to  eternity.  Nothing  else 
takes  hold  of  the  moral  nature  of  man,  with  a  grasp  strong  enough 
to  control  it.  And  this  is  peculiarly  the  case  with  regard  to  the 
Temperance  reformation.  No  general  and  strongly  marked  prog- 
ress was  made  on  this  subject,  till  it  was  taken  up  and  prosecuted 
in  this  manner.  And  none  will  continue  to  be  made,  after  this 
manner  of  prosecuting  it  shall  cease.  The  light  of  the  know- 
ledge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ,  is  the  only 
light  powerful  enough  to  dispel  the  darkness;  and  the  love  of  God 
in  the  gift  of  his  own  Son  to  redeem  men  from  all  iniquity,  is  the 
only  motive  strong  enough  to  lead  them  to  forsake  it.  It  is  so  in 
this  country.  It  is  so  in  England.  It  is  so  in  Russia.  It  is  so 
every  where.  Hence  the  anxiety  which  the  philanthropist  feels,  that 
Christ  should  be  the  soul  of  every  Temperance  tract.  He  must 
be  the  soul  of  every  Temperance  effort,  that  will  be  generally  and 
permanently  successful.  And  the  more  men  become  enlightened, 
and  his  love  reigns  in  their  hearts,  the  deeper  will  be  this  convic- 
tion in  the  minds  of  all  who  labor  in  this  cause. 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [374 

"  We  never  made  any  headway,"  says  a  gentleman  in  Great 
Britain,  "  in  the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  and  of  slavery,  till  it 
was  taken  up  by  religious  men,  prosecuted  as  a  concern  of  the 
soul,  with  reference  to  eternity,  and  by  motives  drawn  from  the 
cross  of  Christ."  Here  is  the  grand  instrument  of  our  world's 
renovation. 

"  This  remedy  did  wisdom  find, 

To  heal  diseases  of  the  mind." 

"  Our  lusts  its  wondrous  power  controls 

And  calms  the  rage  of  angry  souls." 

From  Madras,  a  gentleman  writes,  requesting  that  all  the  Tem- 
perance publications  may  be  sent  to  him.  Another  gentleman, 
from  Calcutta,  gives  a  very  interesting  account  of  a  Temperance 
meeting  in  that  city.  In  Burmah,  Malacca,  and  in  China,  the 
cause  is  exciting  increased  attention  ;  numbers  are  feeling  more 
deeply  its  importance,  especially  in  its  connection  with  the  spread 
of  the  gospel,  and  are  making  new  efforts  to  extend  it. 

From  Ceylon,  Dr.  Scudder  writes,  "  One  of  the  most  inter- 
esting circumstances  that  has  transpired  has  been  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  our  Native  Temperance  Society.  The  meeting  was  held 
in  the  Church.  Cassenathun,  the  President  of  the  Society,  was 
seated  on  a  mat  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  T.  W.  Coe,  the  Secre- 
tary, was  seated  at  his  left.  The  most  respectable  part  of  the 
heathen  were  on  his  right  side  ;  the  speakers  at  the  meeting  and 
others,  on  the  left.  The  meeting  was  opened  by  the  Secretary's 
reading  several  verses  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  after  a  few  remarks 
he  read  the  Report.  From  this  it  appears,  that  about  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty  persons  have  enrolled  their  names  as  members  of  the 
Society.  Many  appalling  facts  were  mentioned  by  several  of  the 
speakers.  Good  effects  have  already  appeared  from  the  meeting. 
A  very  respectable  man,  an  officer  of  the  government,  who  was 
present,  after  returning  home,  ordered  that  no  more  toddy*  should 
be  drawn  from  a  tree  which  stood  in  his  garden.  Another  officer 
of  the  government  who  was  present,  went  the  next  morning  to 
the  market  in  Changane,  and  ordered  those  who  had  brought  tod- 
dy there  for  sale,  to  take  it  away  ;  and  never  again  make  their 
appearance  there  with  it." 

From  South  Africa,  Dr.  Phillips  writes,  "The  Governor  and 
his  lady,  and  a  few  others  at  the  head  of  our  Society,  and  the 
Hottentots  agree  in  thinking  that  Infant  Schools  and  Temperance 
Societies,  are  most  excellent  things.  At  our  Missionary  Stations 
we  have  found  Temperance  Societies  to  be  what  a  person  at  one 
of  our  stations  called  them,  John  the  Baptist.     They  are  sent  to 

*  A  species  of  intoxicating  drink,  drawn  from  the  Cocoa  Nut  Tree ;  and  also 
.rom  the  Palmira  Tree. 


375]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  37 

prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord.  Our  Missionaries  have  found  their 
to  be  the  most  valuable  auxiliaries  in  promoting  the  cause  of  God, 
we  ever  had  in  Africa.  We  have  Temperance  Societies  at  each 
of  our  stations  ;  and  I  believe  that  there  are  very  few  of  our  peo- 
ple who  do  not  conform  to  their  rules.  At  the  new  settlement  of 
Kat  river  we  have  fourteen  hundred  members  belonging  to  the 
Temperance  Society  in  that  district.  I  shall,  if  possible,  get  you 
a  copy  of  the  speeches  of  the  Hottentots  at  our  last  anniversary 
meeting  of  the  Temperance  Society  in  that  place  ;  which  will 
give  you  a  better  idea  of  the  benefits  which  the  Temperance  So- 
ciety has  conferred  on  that  place,  than  any  thing  I  can  say." 

Temperance  Societies  have  also  been  formed,  and  have  accom- 
plished great  good  in  New  Holland.  And  it  is  interesting  to  wit- 
ness the  correct  views  on  this  subject,  which  are  thus  early 
embraced  and  propagated  in  that  part  of  the  world.  A  publica- 
tion from  that  country  states,  "  That  Societies  have  at  various 
times  been  formed  in  Scotland  and  other  places,  the  object  of 
which,  was,  to  prevent  excess  in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  not  to 
exclude  them  ;  but  that  they  have  universally  come  to  nothing. 
They  proved  themselves  to  be  unsound  in  principle,  and  therefore 
could  not  stand.  They  did  not  set  out  with  the  incontrovertible 
truth,  that  ardent  spirit  is  a  poison,  to  both  body  and  soul.  That 
it  is  a  poison  to  the  body,  and  a  poison  not  of  a  very  inactive 
kind,  we  have  abundant  proof  in  this  colony  where  it  produces 
numerous  diseases,  and  destroys  the  inhabitants  of  Hobartstown 
so  rapidly  that  they  do  not,  on  an  average,  live  to  more  than 
the  age  of  twenty-three  years  ;  while  the  prisoners  at  Macquarrie 
Harbor,  who  are  excluded  from  the  use  of  spirit,  live,  on  an  ave- 
rage, to  thirty-five  years,  notwithstanding  the  privations  they 
undergo  in  being  limited  to  salt  provisions.  That  spirit  is  a 
poison  to  the  soul,  any  person  that  uses  it  and  attends  to  the  state 
of  his  own  mind  may  readily  ascertain.  He  will  find  that  after 
having  taken  but  a  single  glass,  his  moral  perceptions  of  right  and 
wrong  are  beclouded,  and  his  moral  powers  of  resisting  tempta- 
tions diminished.  Sin  no  longer  appears  so  sinful  as  it  did  ;  and, 
having  weakened  the  powers  of  resistance,  he  runs  the  more  rap- 
idly into  it." 

Happy  would  it  be,  if  these  truths,  proclaimed  so  forcibly  from 
New  Holland,  should  carry  conviction  to  all  in  America.  The 
principle  here  adverted  to,  that  ardent  spirit  is  a  poison,  to  the 
body  and  the  soul,  and  of  course  that  it  is  wicked  to  drink  it, 
is  fundamental;  and  all  efforts  to  stay  its  desolations,  that  over- 
look this  principle,  or  set  it  aside,  or  proceed  as  if  it  were 
not  true,  must  ever  prove  abortive.  No  wonder  then,  that 
The  one  glass  a  day  Societies,  that  were  formed  in  Scotland 
and  other  places,  Societies  based,  not  professedly,  but  really 
4  28* 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [376 

on   the  principle   of  only  sinning    moderately,  came  to  nought. 
Such  societies   must  ever  come  to  nought.     They  overlook  the 
principle,    the  fundamental  principle,   of  letting   alone    iniquity, 
before  it  is  meddled  with.     The  fact  that  ardent  spirit  is  a  poison 
to  the  body,  shows  the  reason  why  it  has  killed,  over  wide  regions 
of  country,  more  than  one  in  five  of  the  men  who  have  drunk  it ; 
and  why  it  has  annually  proved  the  means  of  death  to  more  than 
thirty  thousand  of  our  citizens.    And  the  fact  that  it  is  a  poison  to 
the  soul,  shows   the  reason,  why,  of  ninety-five  thousand  crimes 
committed  in  Great  Britain,  more  than  seventy  thousand  were 
committed  under  the  influence  of  liquor;  and  of  one  hundred  and 
twentv-five  thousand,  committed  in  the  United   States,  more  than 
ninety  thousand  were  committed  under  the  influence  of  the  same 
cause.     These,  and  multitudes  of  similar  facts,  show  the  reason 
why  the  traffic   in   it,  to  be  used  as   a  drink,  is,  and  of  necessity 
ever  must  be,  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God  ;  an  immorality,  ol 
a  peculiarly  aggravated  description  ;  and,  as  such,  ought,  forth- 
with, to  be  universally  abandoned.      And  it  calls  for  devout  grati- 
tude to  the  Author  of  all  good,  that   this   truth  is  embraced  and 
proclaimed  by  rapidly  increasing  numbers,  not  only  in  this  coun- 
try, but  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe. 

Among  the  principal  means  of  producing  this  conviction,  have 
been  the  Reports  of  our  Society.  Wherever  they  have  gone, 
and  been  read,  they  have  produced  extensively  this  conviction 
upon  the  minds  of  sober  and  intelligent  men.  Many  have  arisen 
from  the  perusal  of  them,  with  an  impression  never  before  made, 
and  never  to  be  effaced,  that  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  and 
especially  the  traffic  in  it,  are  a  sin,  peculiarly  offensive  to  God, 
and  destructive  to  the  temporal  and  eternal  interests  ol  men. 
They  were  designed  for  this  purpose  ;  and  the  evidence  is  con- 
stantly accumulating,  that  could  their  circulation  and  perusal  be 
universal,  they  would,  through  the  Divine  kindness,  proauce  their 

intended  effect.  ,  ,     , 

As  the  first  three  were  out  of  print,  and  were  often  sought  lor, 
the  Committee  in  their  Fourth  Report  gave  a  history  of  the  for- 
mation of  this  Society,  and  of  the  Temperance  Reformation,  from 
its  commencement.  They  also  gave  a  condensed  view  of  the 
prominent  facts  contained  in  all  the  other  Reports.  In  that  Re- 
port thev  also  proved  and  illustrated  the  truths  that  ardent  spirit  is 
a  poison,  the  drinking  of  which  is  not  needful  or  useful  to  man; 
that  its  use,  as  a  drink,  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  health  and  ol 
life  ;  that  it  induces  and  aggravates  disease,  impairs  and  olten 
destroys  reason  ;  that  it  demoralizes  the  character,  shortens  many 
lives,  and  ruins  many  souls.  Of  course,  that  the  drinking  of  it  is 
an  immorality.  That  Report  was  constructed,  not  on  the  plan  ol 
bein°-    a    temporary   document,    detailing    only   temporary   and 


377]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  39 

local  operations,  but  on  the  plan  of  being,  the  first  of  a  series 
of  permanent  documents;  embodying  the  great  principles  involv- 
ed in  the  Temperance  Reformation,  the  facts  by  which  they  are 
illustrated;  the  reasons  why  this  work  of  kindness,  should  receive 
the  support  of  all  good  men;  and  the  benefits,  which,  should  this 
be  the  case,  would  result  to  our  country  and  the  world.  It  was 
stereotyped,  and  has  passed  through  numerous  editions  in  this, 
and  other  countries.  It  has  apparently  done  much,  and  could  it 
be  universally  circulated  would  do  much  more,  to  hasten  the  time 
when  drunkenness  shall  cease,  and  the  blessings  of  Temperance 
universally  prevail. 

The  Fifth  Report  was  constructed  on  the  same  plan,  and  was 
designed  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  series,  and  was  paged  accor- 
dingly. In  this  Report  it  was  shown  that  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  also,  an  immorality;  and  the  reasons 
were  pointed  out,  why  this,  as  well  as  the  drinking  of  it,  ought  to 
be  universally  abandoned.  This  was  also  stereotyped,  has  passed 
through  several  editions  in  this  country,  been  reprinted  in  Eng- 
land, and  copies  of  it  been  sent  to  most  parts  of  the  world. 

In  the  Sixth  Report,  which  was  designed  to  be  the  third  in  the 
permanent  series,  and  was  stereotyped  and. paged  accordingly,  it 
was  shown,  that  the  making,  or  continuing  of  laws,  to  authorise 
the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  is  also 
an  immorality.  As  the  drinking  of  it  is  immoral,  and  the  furnish- 
ing  of  it  immoral,  it  follows  of  course,  that  the  making  or  continu- 
ing of  laws  to  authorise  this  traffic,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  and 
thus  throwing  over  it  the  shield  of  legislative  sanction,  is  also  immor- 
al and  ought  to  be  abandoned.  It  was  shown  in  that  Report,  that 
men  have  no  moral  right,  even  in  a  state  of  nature,  to  traffic  in  ar- 
dent spirit,  or  to  authorise  others  to  do  it;  and  that  they  cannot  do 
either,  without  violating  the  law  of  God  ;  that  they  do  not,  and  that 
they  cannot  acquire  such  a  right  by  entering  into  society,  and  form- 
ing civil  governments.  It  was  shown  that  such  traffic  is  inconsis- 
tent with  Temperance;  a  violation  of  the  first  principles  of  political 
economy;  tends  to  impair  the  health;  derange  the  intellect,  and 
corrupt  the  morals  of  the  community.  Of  course,  that  it  is  a  m, 
the  sanction  of  which,  by  making  or  continuing  laws  to  license 
men  to  pursue  it,  is  necessarily  wrong.  And  not  only  were  these 
truths  proved,  but  the  principles  in  the  nature  of  man,  and  the 
government  of  God  were  illustrated,  and  the  reasons  exhibited 
why  the  abovementioned  evils  ever  have  resulted,  and  while  it  is 
continued  ever  must  result,  from  that  nefarious  traffic.  The  con- 
clusion was  that  those  who  understand  this  subject,  and  yet  are 
instrumental  in  making,  or  continuing  laws  which  sanction  this 
traffic,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  will  at  the  Divine,  tribunal, 
and  ought,  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  to  be  held  responsible  for 
their  effects. 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [379 

But  to  this  view  there  were  two  objections.  The  first  was. 
"  That  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  should  be  licensed  in  order  to 
restrain  and  prevent  it."  To  this  it  was  answered,  "that  the 
licensing  of  it  for  half  a  century  had  not  restrained  and  prevented 
it;  but  that  under  such  license,  it  had  continued  to  increase,  until 
it  had  wellnigh  proved  our  ruin.  It  was  also  stated  that  the 
licensing  of  sin  is  never  the  way  to  prevent  or  restrain  it;  but  is 
the  way  always  to  sanction  and  perpetuate  it.  It  teaches  the  doc- 
trine, that  if  practised  according  to  law,  it  is  right,  a  doctrine 
which  is .  false  and  fatal.  It  tends  to  prevent  the  efficacy  of 
truth  and  of  facts  in  producing  the  conviction  that,  whether 
legal  or  illegal,  according  to  human  statute,  it  is  nevertheless 
wicked.  And,  of  course,  the  laws  which  license  it  are  wicked 
laws." 

The  other  objection  was,  "  That  if  legislators  do  not  license 
men  of  conscience  to  sell  ardent  spirit,  men  of  no  conscience,  in 
such  great  numbers,  will  sell  it,  that  the  evil  will  be  overwhelm- 
ing." To  this  it  was  answered,  "That  it  is  not  necessary  to 
license  counterfeiters,  to  prevent  the  community  from  being  del- 
uged with  base  coin.  It  is  not  necessary  to  license  gamblers,  or 
swindlers,  in  order  to  prevent  the  community  from  being  over 
whelmed  with  their  mischief.  No  more  is  it  needful  to  license  men 
to  sell  ardent  spirit.  If  wicked  men,  in  opposition  to  the  influence 
of  moral  means,  will  prosecute  a  wicked  business,  which  corrupts 
our  youth,  wastes  our  property  and  endangers  our  lives;  the  com- 
munity, in  this  free  country,  this  land  of  liberty,  have  the  power 
and  the  right,  without  licensing  iniquity,  to  defend  themselves  from 
its  evils..  This  opens  the  door,  and  the  only  door,  which  truth  and 
duty  ever  open  for  legislation  with  regard  to  sin;  not  to  license 
and  sanction  it,  but  to  defend  the  community  from  its  mischiefs; 
and  in  such  a  manner  as  is  best  adapted  to  deter  the  tricked  from 
transgression,  and  promote  as  far  as  practicable  their  good  and 
tli,e  good  of  the  community.  And  this  is  the  change  in  legislation 
with  regard  to  the  sin  of  trafficking  in  ardent  spirit,  which  the  cause 
of  temperance,  of  patriotism,  of  virtue  and  of  God,  now  imperiously 
demands.  Treat  this  vice,  as  other  vices  are  treated,  and  there 
will  be  no  difficulty  in  branding  it  with  infamy. 

Let  legislators,  chosen  by  the  people  and  respectable  in  society, 
license  any  sin,  and  it  tends  to  shield  that  sin  from  public  odium; 
and  to  perpetuate  it,  by  presenting  for  it  a  legal  justification.  '  He 
that  justifieth  the  wicked,  and  he  that  condemneth  the  just;  even 
they  both  are  an  abomination  to  the  Lord.' 

Let  all  sanctioning  by  law  of  this  abominable  traffic  be  for  ever 
abandoned;  and  if  the  rising  indignation  of  a  deeply  injured,  and 
long  suffering  community  does  not  sweep  it  away,  and  men  are 
still  found  base  enough  to  continue  to  scatter  the  estates  of  their 


379]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  41 

neighbors,  to  fill  our  almshouses  with  paupers  and  our  penitentiaries 
with  convicts,  to  make  wives  more  than  widows,  and  children  doubly 
orphans;  to  decoy  our  youth,  and  sink  them  to  a  premature  and 
an  ignominious  grave, — the  people,  if  they  choose,  by  the  arm  of 
legislation  can  undertake  the  holy,  righteous,  and  indispensable 
work  of  self  defence.  And  as  all  political  power  is  in  their  hands, 
it  will  be  found  to  be  a  work  which  is  practicable.  The  wisdom 
of  legislators  chosen  without  the  aid  of  ardent  spirit,  and  the  pat- 
riotism of  statesmen  who  do  not  use  it,  or  rely  upon  it  for  sup- 
port; but  who  rely  on  the  righteousness  of  their  cause,  the  good 
sense  and  virtue  of  their  constituents,  and  the  gracious  aid  of  their 
God,  will  be  abundantly  sufficient  to  the  exigency  of  the  case.  If 
necessary  to  protect  our  property,  our  children,  and  our  lives,  and 
there  is  no  other,  or  no  better  way  to  do  it,  how  perfectly  easy, 
and  how  perfectly  just,  whenever  the  people  generally  shall  desire 
it,  to  indict  at  common  law  the  keeping  of  a  grog-shop  as  a  public 
nuisance;  or  to  provide  by  statute  that  those  who  make  paupers 
shall  support  them;  and  those  who  excite  others  to  commit  crimes 
shall  themselves  be  treated  as  criminals.  And  in  the  necessary, 
the  magnanimous,  the  glorious  work  of  legal  self  defence  from  an 
evil,  which,  in  defiance  of  public  sentiment,  of  reason,  religion, 
humanity,  and  of  God,  would  roll  over  earth  a  deluge  of  fire,  and 
annihilate  the  hopes  of  the  world,  legislators  may  expect,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  subject  is  understood,  the  united  and  cordial  sup- 
port of  all  good  men. 

The  point  to  be  decided,  to  be  decided  by  legislators  of  these 
United  States,  to  be  decided  for  all  coming  posterity,  for  the 
world,  and  for  eternity,  is,  Shall  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  as  a 
drink  be  treated  in  legislation,  as  a  virtue,  or  a  vice?  Shall  it 
be  licensed,  sanctioned  by  law,  and  perpetuated  to  roll  its  all-per- 
vading curses  onward  interminably?  Or, shall  it  be  treated,  as  it 
is  in  truth,  a  sin?  And  if  there  shall,  in  future,  be  men  base 
enough  to  continue  to  commit  it,  shall  the  community,  in  self  de- 
fence, by  wise  and  wholesome  legislation,  as  far  as  practicable  and 
expedient,  shield  themselves  from  its  evils;  and  if  these  evils 
must,  through  the  wickedness  of  men,  continue  to  exist,  let  them 
fall,  as  leniently  as  the  public  safety  will  permit,  alone  on  the  heads 
of  their  authors?  " 

This  Report  has  also  been  stereotyped  and  paged  as  a  continu- 
ation of  the  permanent  series.  Twenty-five  thousand  copies  of  the 
whole,  or  parts  of  it,  have  been  printed,  and  nearly  all  put  in  cir- 
culation; making  of  the  three  last  Reports  and  parts  of  them 
which  have  been  printed  in  this  country,  about  325,000  copies. 
A  copy  of  the  last  Report  has  been  put  into  the  hands  of  each 
member  of  Congress,  and  a  copy  of  that  part  of  it  on  the  immoral- 
ity of  the  License  Laws,  into  the  hands  of  each  member  of  sev- 
4* 


42  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETT.  [380 

eral  of  the  State  Legislatures.  It  has  also  been  sent  to  numerous 
gentlemen  of  distinction  in  this  and  other  countries. 

As  it  proceeded  one  step  farther  than  either  of  the  former  Re- 
ports, and  so  far  as  the  Committee  know,  farther  than  any  previous 
publication  on  this  subject  ;  and  not  only'  called  in  question  the 
morality,  but,  in  view  of  the  Committee,  proved  conclusively, 
the  decided  and  strongly  marked  immorality  of  a  part  of  legisla- 
tion, which  has  long  received  extensive  sanction  and  support,  the 
Committee  were  anxious  to  have  it  receive  the  careful  examina- 
tion of  a  number  of  distinguished  physicians,  and  divines,  jurists 
and  statesmen;  and  to  obtain  from  them  an  expression  of  their 
views  on  the  subject.  They  therefore  sent  a  copy  of  it  to  a  num- 
ber of  them  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  with  the  two  following 
inquiries,  viz. 

"I.  Are  the  principles  exhibited  in  this  Report  in  your  view 
correct,  and  the  arguments  sound? 

"II.  What  would  probably  be  the  effect  on  the  great  interests 
of  the  community,  should  the  people  generally,  and  legislators, 
choose  to  have  all  legislation  on  this  subject  conformed  to  those 
principles?" 

The  following  are  extracts  from  answers  which  have  been 
received  : 

From  the  Hon.  Samuel  Fletcher,  of  New  Hampshire. — "I 
have  read  that  portion  of  the  Report  to  which  you  referred,  and 
have  examined  it  with  the  more  care,  because  your  questions  seem 
to  imply  that  objections,  from  sources  entitled  to  consideration, 
have  been  made  against  '  the  principles  and  arguments'  therein 
advanced.  And  after  much  reflection  on  the  subject,  both  before 
and  since  I  read  the  Report,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that, 
in  my  judgment,  '  the  principles  exhibited  are  correct,  and  the 
arguments  by  which  they  are  supported  are  sound '  and  incon- 
trovertible. And  that  '  should  the  people  generally,  and  the 
legislators,  choose  to  have  all  legislation  conformed  to  these  prin- 
ciples, the  effect  upon  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  interests  of 
the  community,'  would  be  at  once,  and  extensively  benign,  and 
productive  of  public  peace  and  individual  happiness.  If  any 
objections  are  sustained  by  good  and  valid  reasons,  I  have  not 
been  able  to  discover  those  reasons. 

"And  here  I  might,  perhaps  most  properly,  close  my  reply  ; 
but  had  I  more  leisure,  I  would,  in  justice  to  my  views  of  the 
great  importance  of  the  subject,  and  to  render  my  humble  support 
to  the  American  Temperance  Society  in  their  noble  and  arduous 
enterprise,  present  some  of  the  reasons  which  have  produced  in 
my  mind  the  conclusion  above  stated.  But  at  present  I  can  do 
little  more  than  to  express  my  full  concurrence  in  the  reasonings 
and  conclusions  of  the  Committee  in  their  Report.     The  whole 


381]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  43 

question,  I  think,  is  there  stated  and  discussed  with  great  ability 
and  candor  ;  and  although  the  unqualified  declaration,  that  '  all 
legislation  relating  to  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit  is  sinful,'  may  seem 
bold  and  startling  to  the  mind  which  has  contemplated  the  subject 
as  clothed  with  the  sanction  and  authority  of  law,  and  justified  by 
long  established  custom  ;  yet  I  doubt  not  that  the  same  mind, 
relieved  from  the  influence  of  prejudice,  will  accord  its  entire 
approbation  of  the  proposition." 

From  the  Rev.  Francis  Way  land,  D.  D.,  President  of  Brown 
University,  Providence,  Rhode  Island. — "  Your  letter  of  Nov. 
1 1 ,  requesting  my  views  respecting  the  principles  and  arguments 
of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  on  the  subject  of  laws  for 
the  licensing  of  spirituous  liquors  ;  and  also  respecting  the  general 
adoption  of  those  principles  by  legislators,  is  before  me.  I 
embrace  the  earliest  opportunity  to  return  you  an  answer.  I 
believe  the  arguments  on  this  subject,  presented  in  the  last  Report 
of  the  Society,  to  be  sound,  and  the  conclusions  to  which  they 
lead  correct." 

After  stating  a  course  of  thinking  somewhat  different  from  that 
mentioned  in  the  Report,  by  which  his  own  mind  had  been  led  to 
the  same  result,  he  adds, 

"  Now  to  all  this,  I  know  of  but  two  objections  that  can  be  urged. 

I.  It  may  be  said  that  the  grocer's  property  is  his  own,  and  he 
has  a  right  to  use  it  in  any  manner  he  pleases.  1.  Now  this  is 
manifestly  false.  A  grocer  has  precisely  the  same  right  in  his 
property  as  any  other  man,  and  he  has  no  more.  He  has  no 
right  to  employ  his  property  in  the  slave  trade,  nor  in  the  pur- 
chase and  sale  of  counterfeit  money,  nor  in  the  manufacture  of 
false  keys.  All  this  every  one  sees.  It  is  not  then  true  of  him 
or  any  one  else,  that  he  has  a  right  to  use  his  property  as  he 
pleases.  2.  His  right  in  his  property  is  the  same  as  that  of  any 
other  man  ;  it  is  the  right  of  using  it  for  the  promotion  of  his  own 
happiness  in  any  manner  he  chooses,  provided  he  do  not  so  use  it 
as  to  diminish  the  innocent  happiness  of  his  neighbor  and  of  the 
community.  Now,  as  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  does  diminish 
that  happiness,  he  has  no  right  to  use  it  in  this  manner. 

II.  Again,  it  may  be  said,  that  this  traffic  is  necessary  for  the 
purposes  of  revenue.  This  objection  carries  its  refutation  along 
with  it,  since  it  has  been  abundantly  and  repeatedly  proved  that 
the  public  expenditure  in  the  cost  of  pauperism  and  crime  arising 
from  drunkenness,  is  ten-fold  greater  than  the  income  which  under 
any  possible  circumstances  can  accrue  from  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirits. 

I  therefore  think  the  prohibition  of  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits 
a  fit  subject  for  legislative  enactment,  and  I  believe  that  the  mosr 
happy  results  would  flow  from  such  prohibition." 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [382 

From  the  Hon.  Mark  Doolittle,  of  Massachusetts. — "With 
pleasure  do  I  comply  with  your  request  in  expressing  to  you  my 
views  relative  to  the  principles  and  the  arguments  contained  in  the 
sixth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  bearing  on  the 
laws  authorising  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink  ;  and  the 
effects  upon  the  interests  of  the  community,  should  legislators 
and  the  people  generally  conform  to  these  principles.  This  sub- 
ject has  been  discussed  and  deliberately  acted  upon  during  the 
last  year,  by  the  National  Convention  at  Philadelphia,  and  by  con- 
ventions in  Massachusetts  and  New  York,  &c,  and  the  principles 
expressed  in  the  Report  adopted  by  each  of  those  highly  respect- 
able bodies,  and  from  a  careful  review  of  this  subject,  the  reasoning 
which  brings  the  mind  to  these  conclusions,  appears  so  direct  and 
conclusive  diat  no  room  is  left  for  doubt — there  are  no  abstract  or 
unsettled  principles  in  the  case,  on  which  the  mind  can  linger  in 
suspense. 

The  position  taken  in  the  Report,  is,  that  laws  authorising 
the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink  are  morally  wrong.  In  what- 
ever aspect  this  subject  is  viewed — by  whatever  course  of  reason- 
ing we  are  guided  in  our  inquiries,  we  are  brought  to  the  same 
conclusion.  The  seal  of  everlasting  reprobation  and  abhorrence 
upon  this  traffic  is,  that  it  has  no  redeeming  qualifications — it  never 
has  done  men  any  good,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  never 
can. 

Is  there  any  other  article  which  the  community  would  sustain 
for  a  single  day  as  the  object  of  commerce  among  men,  that  should 
produce  precisely  the  same  effects  upon  the  community  that 
ardent  spirits  produce  ?  Can  the  imagination  encircle  within  its 
scope  an  employment  for  men,  the  direct  effect  of  which  is  to 
destroy  the  physical,  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers  of  men  ; 
spreading  disease,  poverty,  misery  and  death  through  the  commu 
nity,  thai  is  not  morally  wrong  ?  If  this  traffic,  is  morally  icrong, 
it  is  the  duty  of  individuals  to  discontinue  it,  and  of  government  to 
withhold  from  it  its  sanctions.  Government  is  instituted  for  the 
common  good.  Every  subject  of  that  government  has  a  right  to 
claim  from  it  protection  and  security  against  the  violation  of  his 
rights.  The  direct  and  inseparable  consequence  of  this  traffic,  is, 
to  violate  the  most  sacred  rights  ;  to  sunder  the  bonds  of  society, 
and  bury  in  everlasting  forgetfulness  the  duties  which  the  dearest 
relations  in  life  impose.  There  is  not  a  tie  which  binds  man  to 
his  fellow  man,  that  has  escaped  its  direful  touch.  The  question 
arises,  what  ought  legislators  to  do  on  this  subject  ?  I  answer, 
place  the  article  on  the  contraband  list,  and  make  the  traffic  in  it 
penal,  as  deadly  to  the  best  interests  of  men.  I  would  gravely 
ask,  are  not  the  evils  arising  from  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  as 
dangerous  and  destructive  to  the  community  as  those  that  arise 


383]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  45 

from  the  traffic  in  lottery  tickets  ?  Nay,  are  they  not  much  more 
so  ?  There  was  a  time  when  the  traffic  in  lotteries  was  sanc- 
tioned by  Christian  legislators — none  appeared  to  question  such 
enactments  in  their  moral  tendency — but  their  effects  were  found 
to  be  pernicious,  and  penalties  have  been  substituted  for  licenses, 
for  those  who  carry  on  the  trade. 

By  a  careful  examination  of  the  laws  authorising  lotteries,  they 
were  found  to  induce  idleness,  dissipation  of  mind  and  morals,  and 
crime,  and  a  neglect  and  violation  of  the  relative  duties  of  life. 
These  laws  had  the  argument  of  revenue  for  their  support.  The 
fallacy  of  this,  as  well  as  all  others  for  their  support  are  now  seen, 
and  the  whole  system  by  common  consent  is  abandoned. 

The  system  of  revenue  which  impairs  the  health,  the  peace, 
the  domestic  and  social  comforts,  the  means  of  usefulness,  the 
physical  and  moral  energies  of  a  people,  is  a  revenue  of  death. 
To  that  people,  nothing  can  be  gained  by  spreading  such  pesti- 
lence through  the  land.  Why  is  not  a  government  bound  to  pro- 
tect its  subjects  against  unwholesome  drinks  as  well  as  against 
unwholesome  food  ?  If  one  sells  unwholesome  food,  he  suffers 
the  penalty  of  the  law.  If  he  sells  unwholesome  drink,  a  dollar 
to  the  government  atones  for  the  wide-spread  ruin  which  it  pro- 
duces. By  what  authority  does  a  government  make  such  a 
grant ;  and  barter  the  health  and  the  lives  of  their  subjects  for 
revenue  ?  Is  it  granted  by  the  statutes  of  Heaven  to  earthly  gov- 
ernments ?  Or, have  the  men  of  this  world  clothed  their  fellows 
with  the  high  prerogative  ?  Does  the  money  paid  as  revenue 
vary  the  moral  character  of  the  law  ?  or  sanctify  its  influences  on 
the  community  ?  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  discover,  how 
revenue,  when  it  was  derived  to  the  government,  can  act  as  a 
purifier.  And  if  it  does  not,  the  law,  when  divested  of  this 
imposing  attire,  stands  thus  :  Be  it  enacted,  that  whosoever  will, 
may  sell  and  dispose  of  to  whomsoever  he  pleases,  a  deadly 
poison,  and  by  his  trade  consign  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men, 
women,  and  children  annually  in  the  United  States,  to  their  graves. 
With  a  full  view  of  all  the  dread  realities  of  his  traffic,  while  he  is 
so  promptly  executing  the  laws,  doubting,  during  the  whole  pro- 
cess, as  he  would  have  us  think,  whether  there  is  any  thing  morally 
wrong  in  all  this.  Morally  wrong — there  is  a  cruelty  in  this 
traffic,  and  in  its  legal  sanctions — it  is  a  refinement  on  cannibal 
cruelly — a  sacrifice  to  fires  more  deadly  to  body  and  soul,  than 
were  ever  kindled  at  the  funeral  pile  of  Pagans." 

From  the  Rev.  Wilbur  Fisk,  D.  D.,  President  of  the  Wes- 
leyan  University,  Middletown,  Connecticut. — "I  have  read  and 
fully  approve  of  the  sentiments  advanced  in  the  Sixth  Annual 
Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  on  the  subject  of 
legalizing  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirits.  The  arguments  in  opposi- 
tion to  the  license  system-arc  unanswerable. 
29 


4t)  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [384 

With  respect  to  the  '  probable  effects  upon  the  great  interests 
of  the  community,'  if  the  principles  there  advanced  should  be 
acted  upon,  I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  they  would  be 
good  ;  nay,  that  this,  and  this  only  will  remove  a  serious  obstruc- 
tion to  the  advancement  of  the  temperance  cause. 

I  think  the  course  proposed  in  the  Report  should  be  adopted, 
relying  upon  the  God  of  justice  to  sanction,  by  his  providence, 
what  his  righteousness  requires  at  our  hands." 

From  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq.,  New  York. — "  I  have  attentively 
read  the  whole  of  the  Sixth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society,  and  can  say,  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  that  the  whole 
of  it  is  good.  You  ask,  '  whether  the  principles  and  arguments 
are  sound,'  in  that  part  to  which  you  particularly  refer  me  ? 
They  are  sound — they  are  irresistible.  And  they  will  prevail, 
unless  some  new  causes  arise  to  lessen  the  intelligence  and  to 
blunt  the  moral  sense  of  the  American  people.  If  the  traffic  iu 
ardent  spirit  is  immoral,  then  of  necessity  are  the  laws  which 
authorise  the  traffic,  immoral.  And  if  the  laws  are  immoral,  then 
must  we  be  immoral,  if  we  do  not  protest  against  them.  We  are 
the  subjects  of  a  republican  government.  It  is  fairly  inferred, 
that  under  such  a  government,  every  voter  has  a  share  in  making 
the  laws.  We  are  responsible  for  the  character  of  the  laws. 
The  license  laws  should  be  repealed,  because  thsy  are  an  awful 
snare  to  the  consciences  of  many.  Unwise  and  sinful  as  it  is  for 
them  to  do  so,  it  is  nevertheless  true,  that  many  persons  graduate 
their  morals  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  instead  of  the  laws  of  God. 
How  careful  should  this  consideration  make  us  to  suffer  nothing 
to  have  a  place  in  our  statute  book,  the  natural  tendency  of  which, 
is,  to  induce  men  to  sin.  But  what  powerful  persuasives  to  sin 
are  the  license  laws  ?  How  idle  to  hope  that  all  engaged  in 
the  traffic  will  abandon  it,  while  these  laws  remain  unrepealed. 
Many  will  cherish  this  self  justification  under  the  shield  of  the 
laws  ;  and  whose  arm  will  be  strong  enough  to  send  the  shafts  of 
conviction  into  the  conscience  through  such  a  shield  ?  And  if  this 
shield  be  broad  and  thick  enough  to  shield  the  vender  of  ardent 
spirit,  it  must  be  to  shield  the  maker  and  the  drinker  of  it.  And 
thus  the  laws  aid  in  perpetuating  these  evils.  But  it  is  said,  that 
the  laws  themselves  intimate  the  immorality  of  the  traffic,  by  for- 
bidding any  to  engage  in  it,  unless  they  will  pay  a  sum  of  money. 
But  if  the  laws  are  to  be  credited  with  any  thing  on  account  of 
this  note  of  remonstrance,  on  the  other  hand,  they  are  guilty  of 
teaching  the  dangerous  doctrine  that  absolution  from  sin  can  be 
purchased  with  money  ;  and  that  for  a  few  dollars  a  man  may, 
with  impunity,  murder  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men." 

From  Edward  C.  Delevan,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society. — "The 


385]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  47 

Sixth  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  makes  a  most 
favorable  and  powerful  impression.  It  is  viewed  by  our  friends, 
as  the  most  interesting  and  weighty  document  which  your  Society 
has  ever  published,  and  it  is  doing  immense  good." 

From  the  Hon.  George  Sullivan,  Attorney  General  of  the  State 
of  New  Hampshire. — "  I  have  read  with  particular  attention  that 
part  of  the  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  to  which 
you  referred  in  your  letter.  The  principles  contained  in  it,  are, 
in  my  opinion,  correct  ;  and  are  supported  by  arguments  the 
most  solid  and  convincing. 

The  right  of  the  legislature  of  any  State  to  allow  its  citizens 
to  trade  in  ardent  spirits,  may  well  be  questioned  ;  to  do  this  is, 
in  my  view,  morally  wrong.  Experience  has  clearly  proved,  that 
the  necessary  tendency  of  intemperance  is  to  produce  idleness, 
poverty,  and  crime  ;  and  it  is  apparent,  that  so  long  as  the  legis- 
lature shall  tolerate  such  a  traffic,  intemperance  will  exist.  Every 
member  of  the  legislature  of  a  State  should  consider  what  a  weight 
of  responsibility  rests  on  him.  If  he  vote  in  favor  of  a  law  per- 
mitting a  traffic  in  ardent  spirits,  although  he  may  abstain  from  the 
use  of  them  himself,  and  may,  at  times,  declaim  against  intemper- 
ance, he  destroys  entirely  the  influence  of  his  example,  and  renders 
ineffectual  every  thing  he  can  urge  against  that  vice.  The  man, 
who,  as  a  legislator,  places  himself  on  the  side  of  intemperance, 
can  never,  as  a  private  individual,  act  efficiently  against  it. 

If  the  legislature  of  a  State  permit,  by  law,  a  traffic,  which 
produces  poverty  with  all  its  sufferings  ;  which  corrupts  the  mor- 
als, and  destroys  the  health  and  lives  of  thousands  of  the  commu- 
nity, they  defeat  the  great  and  important  end  for  which  government 
was  established. 

If  they,  whose  right  it  is  to  make  laws,  should  act  in  confor- 
mity to  the  principles  referred  to,  the  effects  upon  the  social, 
civil,  and  religious  interests  of  the  community  would,  in  my  view, 
be  salutary  and  happy." 

From  the  Hon.  Joseph  Henry  Lumpkin,  of  Georgia. — "  I  have 
bestowed  much  thought  on  the  pamphlet  which  accompanied  your 
letter  of  the  2Sth  February.  My  deliberate  opinion  is,  that  the 
principles  contained  in  it  are  correct,  and  the  arguments  by  which 
they  are  supported,  sound.  I  entertain  no  doubt  but  that  the 
laws  which  authorise  the  '  traffic  in  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink,  by 
licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  are  morally  wrong.' 

The  grounds  hitherto  occupied  in  defence  of  these  laws,  are, 
mostly,  abandoned.  Conscientious  and  respectable  men  still  insist, 
that  their  object  and  tendency  are,  to  restrain  and  not  to  encourage 
the  sale  and  use  of  spirit.  Now,  lam  not  familiar  with  the  legis- 
lation of  other  States  on  this  subject,  but  from  observation  I  am 
well  satisfied,  that  the  paltry  sum  of  five  dollars  paid  in  this  State 


48  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [386 

for  licenses  to  retail  spirituous  liquors,  has  never  deterred  one 
individual  from  engaging  in  the  traffic. 

Witli  the  light  now  diffused,  legislators  will  have  to  advance, 
or  else  retrace  their  steps  and  repeal  the  many  unwholesome  provis- 
ions already  enacted  to  prevent  offences  against  the  public  police, 
health,  and  morality.  A  physician  or  surgeon  wilfully  endeavor- 
ing to  spread  the  small  pox  ;  a  butcher  selling  the  flesh  of  diseased 
animals,  or  a  baker  unwholesome  bread,  are  severally  liable  to 
be  indicted  and  punished.  Indeed,  all  nuisances  which  tend  to 
annoy  the  community,  or  injure  the  health  of  the  citizens  in 
general,  or  which  tend  to  corrupt  the  manners  and  morals  of  the 
people,  subject  their  authors  to  severe  penalties.  I  repeat  it,  these 
salutary  enactments  must  be  blotted  from  the  statute-book,  or 
an  additional  clause  must  be  adopted  to  include  the  vender  of 
'  distilled  damnation,'  who  fills  his  neighborhood  with  'lamenta- 
tion, mourning,  and  woe,'  by  supplying  every  family  with  that 
which  but  seldom  enriches  him,  and  makes  them  poor,  and  miser- 
able and  wicked. 

But,  sir,  not  only  must  our  criminal  code  be  reformed,  if  we 
would  maintain  consistency.  Our  civil  jurisprudence  must  like- 
wise be  rectified. 

No  contract  is  valid  unless  founded  on  a  good  or  valuable 
consideration.  Wanting  this  ingredient,  it  is  styled  a  nude-pact ; 
on  which  no  suit  or  action  can  be  brought.  Let  our  law-makers 
discard  forthwith  this  doctrine  as  a  legal  absurdity,  however  vene- 
rable for  its  wisdom  and  antiquity,  or  direct  our  judicial  tribunals, 
to  consider  and  determine,  that  all  contracts  for  the  sale  of  ardent 
spirits  come  within  its  purpose  and  meaning. 

Georgia  has  taken  one  step  to  correct  this  fundamental  evil 
and  error.  She  has  expelled  the  poison  from  the  seat  of  her 
University,  and  tested  in  tioo  counties,  the  authority  to  grant  or 
refuse  licenses.  In  one  of  them  (Liberty),  with  a  population  of 
between  seven  and  eight  thousand  souls,  not  one  drop  can  be 
purchased." 

From  John  C.  Young,  President  of  Centre  College,  Danville, 
Kentucky. — "  Every  principle  in  the  Report  is  correct,  every 
argument  sound,  and  the  conclusion  irresistibly  established,  that 
laws  authorising  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink,  are  morally 
wrong  and  injurious  to  society.  The  persevering  dissemination 
of  such  principles  and  arguments  will,  in  time,  bring  the  public 
mind  to  regard  the  licensing  of  this  traffic  as  a  thing  no  more  to  be 
tolerated  than  the  licensing  of  gambling  houses. 

Question  2d.  Answer.  It  would  require  many  pages  to  give 
a  full  answer  to  this  question,  as  its  effect  would  be  to  abolish  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits  as  a  drink,  and  thus  free  the  community  from 
*Jbs  leF'ov'Y'b-o  r\zz,*?&  to  which  this  use  has  given  birth.     Though 


387]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  49 

the  prohibition  of  gambling-tables  does  not  entirely  root  out  gamb- 
ling, the  prohibition  of  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  would  entirely 
prevent  their  use  ;  for  the  temptation  of  the  unlawful  gains  would  be 
small  in  the  latter  case,  compared  with  what  it  now  is  in  the 
former  ;  and  detection  would  be  inevitable  in  the  latter  case, 
while  it  is  difficult  in  the  former,  as  the  very  breath  of  the  dram- 
drinker  would  lodge  information  against  his  haunt,  while  the 
gambler  bears  about  with  him  no  traces  of  the  den  which  he 
frequents." 

From  the  Rev.  Heman  Humphrey,  D.  D.,  President  of 
Amherst  College,  Amherst,  Massachusetts. — "  I  have  read  your 
Sixth  Report,  from  p.  44,  to  p.  69,  attentively,  and  with  great 
satisfaction.  The  principles  there  laid  clown,  rest,  as  I  fully 
believe,  upon  the  basis  of  eternal  truth  —  of  love  to  God  and 
universal  good  will  to  men  ;  and  the  arguments  by  which  these 
principles  are  enforced,  cannot  be  answered  nor  shaken.  It  is  as 
plain  to  me  as  the  sun  in  a  clear  summer  sky,  that  the  license 
laws  of  our  country  constitute  one  of  the  main  pillars,  on  which 
the  stupendous  fabric  of  intemperance  now  rests.  Take  away 
this  support,  and  I  do  not  see  how  its  tottering  walls  could  stand 
before  the  heavy  artillery  by  which  they  are  assailed,  for  a  single 
year.  But  how  can  they  ever  be  overthrown,  so  long  as  they  are 
sustained  at  every  angle,  by  the  strong  buttresses  of — shall  I  say 
Christian  legislation  !  As  matters  now  stand,  thousands  will 
commit  their  consciences  for  safe  keeping  to  the  statute  books. 
They  will  insist  upon  it,  that  a  traffic,  which  the  laws  of  twenty- 
four  enlightened  states  countenance  and  protect,  cannot  be  wrong. 
And  so  long  as  the  monster  intemperance  has  a  body-guard,  of 
three  or  four  thousand  grave  and  disciplined  legislators  to  defend 
him,  how  can  the  friends  of  humanity,  of  morality  and  religion, 
follow  up  the  work  which  they  have  so  auspiciously  begun,  and 
rid  the  land  of  his  carcass  ?  Ah,  how  complacently  he  sits  within 
the  lines,  upon  his  throne  of  human  skeletons,  quaffing  blood  and 
tears,  and  delighting  his  ear  with  the  agonies  that  burst  from  ten 
thousand  breaking  hearts,  every  moment  of  every  day  and  every 
night  in  the  year ! 

The  time  is  but  just  gone  by,  when  it  was  necessary  to  go  into 
a  long  and  labored  argument  to  prove,  that  the  making  and  vend- 
ing of  ardent  spirit  is  an  immorality  ;  and  that  all  the  license  laws, 
are  in  their  spirit  and  effects,  at  war  with  High  Heaven — Thou 
shaft  not  kill.  But  I  do  hope,  that  in  almost  every  section 
of  our  country,  '  the  darkness  is  now  past.'  Who  will  say,  that 
it  would  be  right  to  plant  and  cultivate  the  deadly  upas  in  every 
town,  and  village,  and  hamlet  in  the  land,  and  to  encourage  the 
work  of  death  by  legal  enactments  ?  Who  would  not  be  horror- 
struck,  if  seventy-five,  or  a  hundred  thousand  men  in  these  United 
5  29* 


50  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [388 

States  were  to  go  into  the  business  of  importing,  and  raising,  and 
selling  fiery  flying  serpents  :  and  what  epithet  would  be  applied  to 
such  legislation,  were  every  State  government  to  license  this  great 
army  of  destroyers  for  the  public  good  ?  And  yet  were  all  the 
serpents  and  beasts  of  prey  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  to  be  let 
loose  upon  our  people,  they  would  not  be  half  so  destructive  of 
life  and  happiness,  as  are  the  fires  of  the  distillery,  and  the  trade 
in  its  concocted  poisons." 

From  the  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  United  States' 
Senator  from  New  Jersey. — "  I  have  read  with  great  satisfaction 
the  Sixth  Annual  Report  of  your  Society  :  and  especially  that  por- 
tion of  it  between  pages  44,  and  69,  on  the  immorality  of  author- 
ising by  law,  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink.  It  is  almost 
unnecessary  to  say,  how  fully  and  heartily  I  concur,  in  the  views 
and  principles,  that  are  therein  so  ably  sustained.  If  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits  be  wrong,  it  seems  to  be  a  result,  of  inevitable 
deduction,  that  the  traffic  in  it  is,  at  least  equally  so.  And  hence, 
while  many  have  ridiculed,  I  have  always  honored,  the  conduct 
of  those  persons,  who,  under  honest  convictions  of  the  evils  of 
intemperance,  have  renounced  all  connection  and  terms  with 
ardent  spirits,  broken  in  the  head  of  the  cask,  and  poured  out  the 
destructive  poison  on  the  ground.  This  was  a  noble  tribute  to 
principle,  that  would  not  hesitate  between  the  cold  calculations  of 
avarice,  and  the  high  claims  of  duty,  and  the  peace  of  a  pure 
conscience.  How  can  a  just  mind  engage  in  a  commerce,  all 
the  details  of  which  are  fruitful  of  evil  ? 

The  use  of  ardent  spirit  is  attended  by  peculiar  circum- 
stances. It  is  not  an  ordinary  and  harmless  beverage,  as  to  which, 
every  man  may  be  safely  trusted,  with  his  own  keeping.  But  it 
is  an  insidious  and  dangerous  practice,  that  gradually  forms  an 
artificial  and  depraved  appetite.  It  deranges  and  inflames  the 
whole  organic  system  of  the  body,  aggravates  instead  of  allaying 
thirst,  and  creates  an  inward  craving,  that  has,  in  some  cases, 
seemed  to  me  like  the  gnawings  of  despair. 

And  worse  still.  This  habit  relaxes  the  hold  of  good  prin- 
ciples, by  impairing  the  moral  sense.  A  man's  self-respect,  falls 
among  its  first  victims.  These  sad  results  are  confined  to  no 
class  or  condition.  The  strong  men  and  the  feeble,  are  equally 
exposed  to  its  ravages.  The  truth  is,  (and  every  grave-yard 
proves  it)  the  man  who  habitually  drinks  ardent  spirit,  no  matter 
how  temperately,  has  cause  to  tremble ;  for  his  danger  is  not  only 
real,  but  imminent. 

To  a  subject,  therefore,  of  such  peculiar  and  dreadful  energy, 
reaching  so  far,  and  assailing  so  many  interests,  we  must  apply 
peculiar  remedies.  It  is  mere  tampering  with  temptation,  to 
come  short  of  positive,  decided,  and  uncompromising  opposition. 


389j  SEVENTH  REPORT 1S34.  51 

We  must  not  only  resist,  we  must  drive  it.     To  stand   on  the 
defensive  merely,  is  to  aid  in  its  triumph. 

The  second  inquiry  which  you  have  proposed,  presents  one 
of  the  most  interesting  questions  of  public  duty.  The  ground 
taken  in  your  Report,  is,  beyond  all  serious  controversy,  among  the 
clearest  and  soundest  conclusions  of  right  reason  :  '  That  the  laws 
which  authorise  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  by  licensing 
men  to  pursue  it,  are  morally  wrong.' 

Lawmakers  are,  of  all  men,  bound  to  seek  the  public  good. 
So  broad  is  this  duty,  that  they  are  under  peculiar  obligations  to 
consecrate  the  influence  of  a  pure  and  personal  example,  to  the 
promotion  of  the  general  welfare.  But  first  of  all,  should  their 
legislation  be  pure;  not  only  preventive  of  evil,  but  persuasive  to 
good.  No  man,  fit  to  represent  a  free  people,  will  deny  these 
propositions.  Then  what  can  we  urge  in  excuse  for  the  counte- 
nance, given  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  on  almost  every  statute 
book  ?  On  one  page,  you  will  read  of  heavy  penalties  denounced 
against  drunkenness,  riots,  and  public  disorders  ;  and  the  next 
chapter,  authorises  the  retail  of  the  very  poison,  which  all  admit, 
brings  on  these  outbreaking  transgressions.  Who  can  recon- 
cile these  glaring  contradictions  ?  It  is  time,  every  reflecting  mind 
exclaims  ;  it  Is  high  time  to  emancipate  ourselves  from  these 
humiliating  practices.  The  use  of  ardent  spirit  has  introduced  a 
course  of  reasoning  and  conduct,  that  libels  human  nature.  Who 
can  dwell  upon  it  without  feelings  of  shame,  that  we  should  have 
gravely  provided  by  public  law,  that  if  men  will  pay  for  the  mis- 
chievous faculty,  they  may  set  up  a  tavern,  and  sell  as  much  rum 
as  they  please,  short  of  drunkenness  ;  may  scatter  firebrands  and 
death  all  around  them  ;  beguile  unwary  youth,  and  poison  the  very 
fountains  of  moral  purity  ;  and  inflict  an  amount  of  injury  on  the 
vital  interests  of  the  community,  that  neither  time  nor  law  can 
repair. 

I  rejoice,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  are  endeavoring  to  bring  this 
subject  before  the  scrutiny  of  public  men.  You  cannot  fail,  in  a 
purpose  so  fraught  with  benefits.  We  owe  it  to  our  history — to 
our  free  institutions,  and  above  all,  we  owe  it  to  Him,  whose 
benignant  providence  has  so  richly  blessed  us,  that  we  purify  our 
laws.  And  if  men  will  engage  in  this  destructive  traffic,  if  they 
will  stoop  to  degrade  their  reason  and  reap  the  wages  of  iniquity, 
let  them  no  longer  have  the  law-book  as  a  pillow ;  nor  quiet  con- 
science by  the  opiate  of  a  court  license. 

I  am  persuaded,  that  the  course  of  past  legislation  has  greatly 
increased  the  evil  of  which  we  complain.  How  could  it  be  other- 
wise ?  Men  can  hardly  avoid  looking  up  to  the  halls  of  legislation 
for  standards  of  duty  ;  they  expect  to  find  models  there,  that  may 
be  safely  followed  ;  and  when  these  high  places  have  deliberately 


52  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [390 

sanctioned  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  when  under  legal  regulations, 
the  conclusion  has  been  natural  and  prompt,  that  when  it  was 
clothed  in  these  legal  forms,  it  was  not  only  excusable,  but  lawful. 
Men  would  not  take  time  to  question  the  moral  power  of  a  legis- 
lature to  make  that  right,  which  God  declares  to  be  wrong.  The 
lamented  fact  has  been,  they  did  not  wish  to  believe  in  any  defect 
of  power,  they  loved  to  have  it  so,  and  accordingly  reposed  on  the 
plausible  authority  of  a  positive  statute. 

I  trust  and  pray,  that  light  will  very  soon  become  strong 
enough  to  expose  all  these  delusions,  and  that  by  your  laudable 
efforts  and  the  blessing  of  God,  our  public  men,  our  stale  and 
national  legislatures;  with  the  whole  body  of  our  people,  will 
address  to  this  subject,  the  just  and  deep  reflection  that  it  deserves  ; 
and  will,  with  heart  and  hand,  by  one  combined  and  blessed 
effort,  shake  off,  for  ever,  the  bondage  under  which  our  land  has 
groaned." 

From  the  Hon.  David  Daggett,  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  of 
Connecticut. — "  You  requested  me  to  read  the  Report  of  the 
Committee  from  page  44  to  69,  and  to  give  an  opinion  whether 
i  the  principles  there  exhibited  are  correct,  and  the  arguments  by 
which  they  are  supported,  sound. ' — On  this  question  I  cannot  enter- 
tain a  doubt.  The  argument  appears  to  me  irresistible.  To  make  or 
sell  ardent  spirit,  for  common  use,  is  as  wicked  as  to  make  or  sell 
poisons  for  the  same  purpose.  It  being  admitted  that  the  use  of 
this  article  is  destructive  to  health,  reputation  and  property,  (and 
the  proof  of  this  fact  is  overwhelming,)  it  follows,  conclusively,  that 
those  who  make  it  and  sell  it,  sin,  with  a  high  hand,  against  God, 
and  the  highest  interests  of  their  fellow  men.  The  blood  of  mur- 
dered souls  and  bodies  will  be  required  at  their  hands. 

Your  second  inquiry  is,  '  What,  in  my  view,  would  be  the  ef- 
fects upon  the  social,  civil  and  religious  interests  of  the  community, 
should  the  people  generally,  and  legislators,  choose  to  have  all 
legislation  conformed  to  those  principles.'  Beyond  a  doubt,  the 
effect  would  be  most  salutary  upon  all  those  'interests.'  Pre- 
eminently would  this  be  the  effect  in  this  our  American  Republic; 
for  it  is  now  true,  as  it  always  has  been,  and  always  will  be,  that 
virtue  is  essential  to  a  republican  government.  Those  who  care 
nothing  for  any  thing  but  office  and  its  emoluments  and  honors, 
may  ridicule  this  idea,  render  it  unpopular  and  destroy  its  efficacy, 
but  they  should  recollect  that  it  will  remain  a  truth,  and  that  those 
nations  who  discard  it,  or  who  do  not  recognise  it  as  a  cardinal 
principle,  will  feel  and  realize  its  loss  in  the  destruction  of  all  the 
vital  interests  of  society.  I  will  only  add,  that,  in  my  view,  the 
great  source  of  intemperance  is  to  be  found  in  grog-shops  and  tip- 
ling-hou^o^,  those  '  outer  chambers  of  hell.'  When  public  opinion 
shall  place  those  who  fqrnish  the  means  of  this  destructive  viceT 


391]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  53 

on  a  level  with  thieves  and  counterfeiters,  then,  and  not  till  then,) 
may  we  expect  to  see  our  land  purged  from  this  abomination. 

Accept,  sir,  for  yourself,  and  your  associates,  my  ardent  wishes 
and  fervent  prayers  for  your  success  in  the  cause  of  humanity, 
morality  and  religion,  in  which  you  are  engaged." 

From  the  Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith,  former  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Connecticut. — "  To  your  first  question  I  readily  answer, 
that,  in  my  view,  the  principles  assumed  by  the  Committee,  are 
sustained  by  arguments  which  must  carry  conviction  to  every  un- 
prejudiced mind  —  by  a  course  of  reasoning,  in  short,  which  is 
alike  eloquent  and  unanswerable. 

The  second  question  is  not  so  easily  answered,  and  yet  is 
attended  with  no  intrinsic  difficulty.  I  am  decidedly  of  opinion, 
that  all  laws  for  licensing  and  regulating  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit 
ought  to  be  instantly  repealed.  First,  because  if  intended  as  a 
source  of  revenue,  they  are  manifestly  immoral.  Secondly,  if 
considered  as  sumptuary  laws  which  by  their  operation  are  designed 
to  restrain  the  sale  and  consumption  of  that  article,  they  are  wholly 
inefficient:  indeed,  I  fully  concur  with  the  Committee  in  the  belief 
that  these  acts,  by  legalizing,  do  actually  increase  the  traffic  and 
the  consumption. 

Although  public  opinion,  in  relation  to  this  great  object,  may 
not  be  perfectly  matured,  I  apprehend  it  is  sufficiently  so  to  give 
effect  to  the  remedial  provisions  of  the  common  law,  whenever 
the  licensing  system  shall  be  abolished.  That  there  are  prin- 
ciples in  the  common  law  of  the  land,  precisely  adapted  to  the 
case,  both  of  the  distiller  and  the  vender,  and  remedies  commen- 
surate with  the  evils  they  occasion,  is  well  known  to  every 
Jurist.  Show,  what  is  now  rendered  indisputable,  the  injurious 
effects  of  these  trades  upon  life  and  health,  and  the  common  law 
stands  prepared  to  administer  at  once  the  desired  relief.  And  hap- 
pily for  us  its  principles  and  its  remedies  are  uniform  throughout 
all  the  States  of  the  Union,  unless  restrained  or  modified  by  posi- 
tive legislation.  Let  informing  officers,  then,  and  courts  and 
juries  do  their  duty,  and  the  day  of  redemption  from  the  sorest 
curse  of  the  civilized  world  cannot  be  distant.  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain, if  the  officers  of  justice  shall  neglect  or  refuse  to  enforce  the 
provisions  of  the  common  law,  neither  would  they  be  persuaded 
to  execute  any  legislative  enactments  of  a  prohibitory  nature  which 
the  wit  or  the  wisdom  of  man  could  devise — nay,  it  would  evince 
such  a  state  of  public  sentiment  as  that  we  might  expect  nothing 
less  than  a  renewal  of  the  licensing  system  with  protective  provis- 
ions annexed.  But  I  look  confidently  for  a  better  state  of  things; 
accordingly  I  should  rejoice  to  see,  1.  The  licensing  acts  repeal- 
ed. 2.  A  fair  experiment,  made  of  the  strength  of  the  common 
law,  as  applicable  to  this  case." 
5* 


54  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [392 

Concerning  this  Report,  the  editor  of  the  London  Soldier's  and 
Watermen's  Magazine  remarks — "We  took  up  the  Sixth  Report 
of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  (just  reprinted  by  the 
British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,)  with  a  lively  remem- 
brance of  the  pleasure  which  we  derived  from  the  perusal  of  the 
former,  and  our  expectations  have  heen,  if  possible,  more  than 
realized  by  the  contents  of  this  most  admirably  written  produc- 
tion. We  had  proposed  to  ourselves  one  or  two  brief  extracts, 
but  as  we  read,  paragraph  after  paragraph  appeared,  each  more  strik- 
ing than  the  rest,  until  we  gave  up  all  hopes  of  rendering  any  jus- 
tice to  its  great  merits.  Our  readers  must  purchase  it  and  judge  for 
themselves  (die  price  is  only  one  shilling.)  It  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  every  man  in  the  country.  Our  legislators  should  read, 
mark,  learn,  and  inwardly  digestit ;  it  is  worth  all  the  parliamentary 
returns  in  the  world.  Our  magistrates  and  rulers  should  study 
every  page.  Our  ministers,  deacons,  and  teachers, — oh!  when 
will  they  do  justice  to  this  important  subject?  This  document 
should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  every  minister  in  the  country,  then 
there  would  be  no  lack  of  active  and  efficient  helpers  to  the  cause 
in  every  part  of  the  country.  Our  distillers  and  spirit-venders — 
where  is  the  man  who  can  read  these  thrilling,  these  heart-search- 
ing appeals,  and  continue  an  agent  in  the  foul  and  fatal  traffic? 
We  would  urge  upon  all  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  to  aid  in  the 
circulation  of  this  Report  to  the  utmost  of  their  power;  and  assured 
we  are  that  it  will  prove  one  of  the  most  powerful  aids  to  the  cause 
of  Temperance  Societies  which  has  ever  appeared  in  this  country. 
England  is  not  yet  awake  to  the  subject;  so  completely  have  igno- 
rance and  prejudice,  on  this  matter,  fettered  all  classes  of  the 
community,  that  they  hug  with  the  most  tenacious  embrace  the 
viper  which  has  filled  with  its  deadly  poison  every  corner  of  the 
land.  They  want  rousing  by  a  mighty  and  united  effort;  and  the 
blessing  of  the  Almighty,  so  eminently  bestowed  on  the  endeavors 
of  our  American  brethren,  will  cheer  us  in  the  arduous  but  inter- 
esting work.  Certainly  we  have  never  received  a  more  convinc- 
ing and  persuasive  advocate  and  auxiliary  than  this  excellent  '  Sixth 
Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society.'  ' 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  the  views  of  the  most  sober  and  intelli- 
gent men  of  various  professions  and  employments  throughout  this 
and  other  countries.  And  such,  it  is  manifest,  as  light  increases, 
and  truth  operates,  is  fast  becoming  the  sentiment  of  all.  In  the 
language  of  the  writer  already  referred  to,  "  All  things  are  mani- 
festly tending  to  one  result — the  classing  of  the  use  of  ardent 
spirits,  and  the  traffic  in  them,  as  a  violation  of  the  moral  law,  a 
crime,  equally  injurious  to  man,  and  displeasing  to  God."  As 
the  use  of  it  is  immoral,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion 
that  the  traffic   in   it  is  also  immoral,  and  as  much  more  wicked 


393]  SEVENTH  REPORT.  — 1834.  55 

than  the  use,  as  it  may  be  attended  with  more  light,  and  be  pro- 
ductive of  greater  mischief.  And  as  the  traffic  in  it  is  immoral, 
it  is  impossible  on  any  just  principles  to  avoid  the  conclusion,  that 
the  laws  which  authorise  and  sanction  the  traffic,  by  licensing  men 
to  pursue  it,  and  thus  teach  to  the  community,  that  it  is  right, 
are  also  immoral.  These  are  all  parts  of  one  whole,  and  must 
stand  or  fall  together.  They  are,  one  and  all,  manifestly  and  highly 
immoral.  And  it  must  be  the  prayer  of  every  benevolent  person 
acquainted  with  this  subject,  that  they  may  be  viewed  and  treated 
as  such  throughout  the  world.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the 
cause  of  Temperance  be  triumphant.  And  the  Committee  would 
spare  no  pains,  by  the  use  of  suitable  means,  in  dependence  on 
God,  to  hasten,  as  much  as  possible,  this  glorious  consummation. 

And  in  the  prosecution  of  this  work  they  are  not  insensible,  nor 
would  they  overlook  the  fact,  that  some  persons  still  contend,  that 
the  Bible  does  not  forbid  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  ;  nor  the 
traffic  in  it  to  be  used  as  a  drink;  nor  the  making  and  continuing 
of  laws  to  authorise  this  traffic,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it. 
And  as  this  traffic  is  authorised  by  law,  and  many,  otherwise  re- 
spectable men,  have  been  engaged  in  it,  they  contend  that  it  ought 
not  to  be  declared  to  be  immoral. 

Toward  such  persons,  the  Committee  would  feel  and  manifest 
nothing  but  kindness,  while  they  feel  bound  to  express  their  deep 
and  solemn  conviction,  that  they  are  under  a  woful  mistake.  And 
they  would  labor  to  convince  them  of  it,  and  to  induce  them  to 
renounce  it  ;  for  they  have  no  doubt  that  it  is  a  mighty  barrier  to 
the  progress  of  the  Temperance  Reformation,  and  is  annually  de- 
stroying multitudes  of  their  fellow  men.  They  would,  therefore, 
earnestly  request  the  attention  of  all  such  persons  to  the  following 
considerations. 


56  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [394 

THE  TRAFFIC  IN  ARDENT  SPIRIT, 

TO  BE  USED  AS  A  DRlNK,  IS  A  VIOLATION  OF  THE  LAW  OF  GOD; 
AND  IS  AN  IMMORALITY. 


But  it  is  said,  the  civil  law  allows  it;  therefore  it  is  not  an  immo- 
rality. Thai  this  traffic  is  licensed  by  the  civil  law,  is  admitted.  But 
this  neither  makes  it  moral,  or  proves  that  it  is  so.  The  law  itself 
may  be  immoral.  It  has  often  been  the  ease  with  laws.  Of  this, 
Jehovah  complained,  Isa.  x.  i.  2.  "  Wo  unto  them  that  decree 
unrighteous  decrees  —  that  take  away  the  right  from  the  poor  of 
my  people,  that  widows  may  be  their  prey,  and  that  they  may  rob 
the  fatherless."  No  decrees,  probably,  or  laws,  have  ever  made 
so  many  wives  widows,  and  children  fatherless  and  wretched, 
as  those  which  decreed  that  men  might  sell  ardent  spirit;  and  none 
ever  made  such  mighty  havoc  with  the  character  and  souls  of  men. 
Immoral  acts,  are  not  less  really  immoral  because  the  laws  allow 
them;  nor  the  laws  less  immoral,  because  they  exist  in  Christian 
lands.  The  laws,  in  some  cases,  license  gambling  houses,  and  in 
other  cases,  brothels.  They  license  even  the  slave  trade,  and 
the  selling  of  indulgences  for  the  commission  of  sin.  But  are 
not  those  practices  immoral?  And  are  not  the  laws  which  license 
(hem,  immoral?  And  are  not  those  immoralities  more  aggravated, 
from  the  fact  that  they  exist,  or  have  existed,  in  Christian  lands? 
Morality  is  accordar.ee  with  law;  immorality  is  contrariety  to  law; 
not  always  to  human  law,  but  the  divine  law.  The  standard  of 
morality,  or  immorality,  is  not  human  law.  That,  like  man,  may 
be  wrong.  But  it  is  the  divine  law.  What  accords  with  that,  is 
moral;  and  what  is  against  it,  or  opposed  to  it,  is  immoral.  And 
it  is  not  in  the  power  of  man,  by  legislation,  or  in  any  other  way, 
to  make  it  otherwise  than  immoral. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  correct,  to  say  that  a  practice  which  is  con- 
trary to  the  divine  law,  is  not  an  immorality,  because  human  laws 
allow  it;  or  that  it  is  an  immorality  when  prosecuted  by  one 
person  who  has  light  on  the  subject,  and  knows  it  to  be  contrary 
to  the  divine  law,  and  not  an  immorality  when  practised  by  a  man 
that  does  not  know  this.  The  morality  or  immorality  of  an  ac- 
tion does  nit  depend  on  the  light,  or  knowledge  which  a  person 
may  have,  but  on  its  accordance  with,  or  contrariety  to,  the  divine 
law.  The  guilt  of  the  person,  or  his  liableness  to  punishment,  in 
practising  an  immorality  is  varied  by  the  light  which  he  has,  or 
which,  if  he  used  proper  means,  he  might  have  on  the  subject; 
but  not  the  immorality  of  the  practice  itself.  That  depends  solely 
upon  this,  whether  it  is,  or  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  divine 


395J  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1S34.  57 


law.  The  standard  of  morality,  or  immorality,  does  not  vaiy 
with  the  conviction  and  opinions  of  men,  but  is  fixed  and  uncbang- 
able  as  the  law  of  God.  Morality  is  accordance  with  that  law, 
and  immorality  contrariety  to  that  law.  The  killing  of  infants  by 
mothers,  in  heathen  lands,  is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be 
universally  abandoned;  though  some  mothers  do  not  know  this 
truth.  Their  guilt  may  vary  according  to  the  knowledge  which 
they  have,  or  might  have;  but  the  immorality  of  the  practice, 
which  is  measured  by  another  standard,  remains  unchanged. 

So  when  it  is  declared  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  De  used 
as  a  drink,  is  an  immorality,  the  meaning  is,  that  it  is  contrary  to 
the  divine  law;  a  practice  which  that  law  forbids  and  condemns. 
Of  course  it  ought  to  be  abandoned.  The  guilt  of  the  men  who 
prosecute  this  traffic;  their  liability  to  punishment  may  depend 
somewhat  upon  the  light  which  they  have,  or  might  have  on  the 
subject;  but  not  the  immorality,  as  compared  with  the  divine  law, 
of  the  traffic  itself. 

And  the  object  of  proclaiming  that  the  traffic  is  immoral,  and  of 
showing  that  it  is  immoral,  is  to  lead  those  who  doubt,  or  disbe- 
lieve, to  examine  the  evidence  of  this  truth;  and  to  lead  them,  if 
practicable,  to  abandon  the  immorality,  and  thus  escape  its  awful 
retribution,  and  prevent  its  destructive  effects  upon  their  fellow 
men.  Their  disbelief  does  not  change  the  nature  of  the  practice, 
nor  does  it  lessen  the  ruin  which  it  produces  to  others. 

But  it  is  said,  "you  did  not,  a  few  years  ago,  think  the  traffic  to 
be  contrary  to  the  divine  law.  And  how  comes  it  to  pass,  that  it 
is  contrary  to  the  divine  law,  now?  Has  the  divine  law,  that 
unerring  standard  of  morality,  changed;  so  that  things  which  once 
were  not  immoral,  now  are  immoral?  Is  the  divine  law  improv- 
ed?" We  answer,  no.  But  our  understanding  of  it  may  be  im- 
proved ;  so  that  what  was  immoral,  though  we  did  not  see  it,  may 
now  be  seen  in  its  true  light.  That  poligamy  was  once  not  seen 
to  be  contrary  to  the  divine  law,  does  not  prove  that  it  was  not  so; 
any  more  than  the  fact,  that  the  licensing  of  gambling  houses,  is, 
by  some,  not  believed  to  be  contrary  to  the  divine  law,  now 
proves  that  it  is  not  so. 

For  a  practice  to  be  contrary  to  the  divine  law,  and  of  course, 
immoral,  is  one  thing;  and  for  it  to  be  believed,  or  known  to  be 
contrary  to  the  divine  law,  is  quite  another  thing.  The  belief  or 
disbelief  of  a  man  concerning  any  moral  practice,  does  not 
change  its  nature.  One  does  not  depend  on  the  other.  The  fact 
that  the  slave  trade  was  once  not  thought  to  be  immoral,  does  not 
prove  that  it  was  not  so;  or  that  the  practice  of  nations,  founded 
upon  clearer  and  better  views,  in  denouncing  it  as  piracy  is  not  right. 

When  men  thought  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  was  in  accordance 
with  the  divine  law,  they  thought  that  the  drinking  of  it  was  useful, 
30 


58  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [396 

and  of  course  proper.  This  is  now  known  to  be  false.  All,  even 
apparent,  foundation  for  the  former  opinion,  therefore,  is  by  farts 
swept  away.  Of  course  all  foundation  even  for  the  supposed 
propriety  of  licensing  the  traffic,  is  swept  away  with  it.  The 
fact  that  men,  in  times  past,  did  not  consider  the  traffic  as  contra- 
ry to  the  divine  law,  instead  of  proving  that  it  was  not  contrary  to 
it,  only  proves  that  they  were  under  a  gross  delusion;  which  de- 
lusion has  been  sweeping  its  millions  down  to  death. 

"  But  the  Bible,"  it  is  said,  "does  not  forbid  this  traffic." 

That  the  Bible  does  not  mention  it  byname,  and  say  in  so  many 
words,  it  is  wicked,  is  admitted.  And  as  ardent  spirit  was  not 
known  till  hundreds  of  years  after  the  Bible  was  written,  there  is 
a  good  reason  why  it  should  not  mention  it.  But  it  does  not  fol- 
low from  this,  that  the  Bible  does  not  forbid  the  drinking  of  it, 
and  the  traffic  in  it,  and  the  making  of  laws  to  license  this  traffic. 
Nor  does  it  follow  that  they  are  not  all  immoralities.  What  does 
the  Bible  say,  by  name,  about  gambling?  about  killing  a  man  with 
a  pistol?  The  words  are  not  once  named  in  the  whole  book.  But 
it  does  not  follow,  even  if  some  men  do  not  know  it,  that  they 
are  not  both  gross  immoralities,  and  both  forbidden. 

The  killing  of  children  with  poison,  by  heathen  mothers,  or 
drunken  fathers,  is  forbidden  in  the  Bible;  though  it  does  not  say 
in  those  words  exactly,  that  such  a  father  or  mother  shall  not 
poison  a  child.  Still  it  is  an  immorality,  and  it  is  forbidden.  And 
should  human  laws  allow  it,  and  license  men  to  do  it;  and  even  if 
it  never  had  been  known  by  some,  to  be  wrong,  till  now,  still  it 
would  remain  a  truth,  that  it  always  was  wrong,  contrary  to  the 
Bible, — was  always  forbidden,  and  was  always  an  immorality. 

The  Bible  is  not  constructed  on  the  plan  of  mentioning  every 
practice  by  name,  and  saying  in  so  many  words,  it  is  right,  or 
wrong;  but  on  the  plan  of  revealing  certain  great  principles  of 
right  and  wrong,  by  which  every  practice  in  which  men  ever  did, 
or  ever  will  engage,  may  be  tried;  and  be  seen  to  be  right  or 
wrong.  The  proper  question  is  not,  does  the  Bible  mention  this, 
or  that  thing  by  name;  but  do  the  principles  of  the  Bible  approve, 
or  condemn  it?  When  the  nature  of  the  thing  is  seen  in  the  light 
of  its  effects,  is  it  found  to  accord  with  those  principles,  or  to 
violate  them?  If  it  is  found  to  violate  them,  it  is  forbidden.  It 
is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be  abandoned.  And  as  certainly 
as  the  Bible  shall  govern  men,  it  will  be  abandoned  throughout  the 
earth. 

What  then  are  the  facts  with  regard  to  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit, 
to  be  used  as  a  drink?  What  is  the  nature  of  this  traffic,  as  man- 
ifested by  its  effects?  Does  it  accord  with  the  principles  of  the 
Bible,  or  does  it  violate  them?  This  is  the  question  to  determine 
its  morality,  or  immorality.     And  it  is  the  only  question.     What 


397]  SEVENTH  REPORT.  — 1834.  59 

then  are  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  by  which  this  traffic  is  to  be 
tried  ? 

One  of  them  is  in  Matthew  vi.  13.  "  Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion, but  deliver  us  from  evil."  This  is  a  principle  so  important, 
that  the  Saviour  of  men,  who  was  willing,  for  their  good,  even  to 
die,  would  have  them  in  their  supplications  and  conduct,  daily 
regard  it.  Does  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink, 
tend  to  lead  men  into  temptation;  and  give  to  temptation  peculiar 
power  to  overcome  them,  so  that  they  fall  by  it  into  sin,  when 
they  otherwise  would  not  fall?  And  is  this  its  natural  tendency? 
If  it  is,  the  Bible  forbids  it;  and  to  pursue  it,  is  manifestly  an 
immorality.      What  then  are  the  facts? 

I.  With  regard  to  the  sin  of  idleness,  that  prolific  parent  of 
sins;  does  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  tend  to  make  men  idle? 

From  a  careful  investigation  of  Almshouses  in  various  states 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  it  is  found  that  of  all  the  persons 
who,  by  idleness  and  improvidence,  have  been  reduced  to  pover- 
ty, from  two-thirds  to  seven-eighths  were  intemperate  ;  and  that 
more  than  nineteen-twentieths  drank  ardent  spirit.  More  than  ten 
times  as  many  in  proportion  to  the  number  are  reduced  by  idle- 
ness and  dissipation  to  poverty,  from  those  who  drink  ardent 
spirit,  as  from  those  who  do  not  drink  it.  Hence  it  is  certain 
that  it  leads  them  into  temptation,  and  instead  of  delivering  them 
from  evil,  or  having  any  tendency  to  do  it,  it  exposes  them  the  more 
to  evil,  and  gives  to  that  evil  peculiar  power  to  overcome  and 
destroy  them.  The  traffic  in  it  is  thus  palpably  at  variance  with 
the  law  of  God,  and  opposed  to  his  will  as  revealed  in  the  Bible. 
It  is  an  immorality. 

Of  253  paupers  in  the  county  of  Oneida,  New  York,  246  were 
made  such  by  ardent  spirit.  Of  1134  in  the  county  of  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  1059  were  made  paupers  in  the  same  way.  Of  3000 
admitted  to  the  Almshouse  in  Salem,  Mass.,  the  superintend- 
ent, who  is  as  well  able  to  judge  as  any  other  man,  states  that,  in 
his  opinion,  2900  were  brought  there  by  intemperance.  Of  572 
men  in  the  Almshouse  in  New  York,  the  superintendent  states, 
that  there  are  not  20  that  can  be  called  sober  men;  and  that  of 
601  women,  he  doubts  whether  50  of  them  can  be  called  sober. 
95  drunkards  were  committed  to  the  Penitentiary  in  Boston  in  a 
single  month. 

Of  1969  paupers  in  different  Almshouses,  1790,  according 
to  the  testimony  of  the  Overseers  of  the  Poor,  were  brought  there 
by  spirituous  liquor;  and  of  4969,  in  different  Almshouses,  4690 
were  brought  there  in  the  same  way.  And  very  few  individuals 
are  found  in  any  Almshouse,  but  what  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
using  strong  drink.  It  has  been  the  grand  cause  of  pauperism 
throughout  the  United  States. 


60  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [399 

Let  the  traffic  in  it  cease,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  pauper- 
ism of  the  United  States  will  cease  with  it.  Hushands  and  fathers, 
now  more  than  dead,  would,  in  great  numbers  be  restored  to  their 
more  than  widowed  wives,  and  their  doubly  orphan  children.  It 
is  then  an  immorality. 

II.  Look  at  it  in  another  light,  as  increasing  the  power  of 
temptation  to  the  commission  of  crime.  What  are  the  facts?  Four 
times  as  many  crimes  are  committed  in  places  in  which  it  is  sold, 
as  in  places  in  which  it  is  not  sold.  And  in  a  number  of  cases 
after  the  sale  of  it  has  been  abandoned,  and  the  use  of  it  has  ceas- 
ed, the  criminal  docket  has  been  cleared,  and  the  jails  become 
comparatively  empty.  It  increases  then  the  power  of  temptation 
to  crime,  and  is  thus  a  palpable  violation  of  the  revealed  will  of 
God. 

In  the  county  of  Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  145  persons  were 
committed  to  prison  in  one  year.  The  sheriff  classes  them  as 
follows  :  temperate  16;  doubtful  22;  intemperate  107.  But  all 
of  them,  it  appears,  were  in  the  habit  of  drinking  spirit.  And  an 
old  respectable  inhabitant  of  the  county,  who  was  present  at  the 
examination,  states,  that  while  he  approves  of  the  caution  of  the 
sheriff  in  making  the  classification,  he  does  not  believe  that  a  single 
person  was  committed  during  the  year,  who  was  strictly  temperate. 

In  the  same  county,  there  were  assisted  as  paupers,  117; 
classed  by  the  overseer,  as  follows  :  not  from  intemperance  3  ; 
doubtful  20  ;  obviously  from  intemperance  94. 

From  the  25th  Nov.  to  the  25th  Dec.  1833,  114  persons 
were,  for  various  crimes,  committed  to  the  Albany  jail, — 82  of 
whom  are  stated,  by  the  intelligent  deputy-sheriff,  to  be  intem- 
perate,— 14  of  the  remaining  32  were  known  to  be  free  drinkers 
of  ardent  spirit.  The  remaining  18  were  doubtful  cases,  having 
come  from  a  distance,"  and  having  had  time  to  become  sober 
before  reaching  the  jail.  But  from  the  nature  of  their  crimes, 
assaults  and  battery,  whipping  their  wives,  and  abusing  their  child- 
ren, little  doubt  can  be  entertained  as  to  the  exciting  cause.  The 
whole  number  of  committals  during  the  year  ending  19th  Dec, 
was  1216.  During  the  year  there  has  been  more  than  one 
hundred  cases  of  delirium  tremens,  and  a  considerable  number  of 
them  females.  The  indefatigable  police  justice  states  that  there 
is  hardly  a  case  of  committal  without  rum  being  the  exciting 
cause.  Here,  let  us  turn  our  attention  to  the  Almshouse.  In 
one  year  the  superintendent  states,  that  633  persons  have  been 
received  there.  He  classes  them  as  follows  :  SIX  HUNDRED 
AND  SIXTEEN  brought  there  directly  or  indirectly  by  rum  ; 
one  an  insane  person  ;  seventeen  others  being;  sent  from  remote 
towns  in  the  county  could  not  be  ascertained  to  a  certainly,  but  the 
cause  of  this  poverty  can  hardly  be  doubted.     Two  hundred  and 


399]  SEVENTH    REPOIIT. — 1834.  61 

ninety-seven  persons  were  in  the  Almshouse  when  the  present 
incumbent  took  charge,  so  that  NINE  HUNDRED  AND 
THIRTY  have  been  relieved  at  the  public  expense  during  the 
year, — these  added  to  the  commitments  to  the  jail,  make  TWO 
THOUSAND  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  FORTY-SIX  in 
Jail  and  Poor-house  during  the  year, — about  one  to  every  fourteen 
of  the  whole  population  !  !  ! 

Of  643  who  were  committed  to  the  House  of  Correction  in 
Boston,  in  one  year,  453  were  drunkards.  And  the  keeper  states, 
that  intemperance  is  almost  the  sole  cause  of  commitments,  and 
that  he  does  not  believe,  there  were  ten  among  the  whole,  icho 
were  not  intemperate. 

An  examination  has  lately  been  made,  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Prison  Discipline  Society,  of  the  Institutions  in  the  city  for  the 
support  of  paupers  and  the  punishment  of  criminals.  The  result 
shows  that  the  prosecution  and  support  of  the  intemperate  has 
cost  the  city,  within  the  last  ten  years,  about  $500,000.  One 
person  has  been  committed  to  the  House  of  Industry  twenty-two 
times.  Others  have  been  committed  ten,  twelve,  and  fifteen 
times  each.  Fifty  persons  have  been  committed  three  hundred 
and  twenty-one  times;  upon  an  average,  more  than  six  times  each. 
Of  these  forty-five  were  drunkards. 

The  following  facts  have  been  published  by  the  Council  of  the 
State  Temperance  Society  : 

"  Plain  Facts,  showing  over  five  hundred  thousand  dollars, 
paid  in  Taxes  for  the  Support  of  Pauperism,  Vice,  and  Crime,  in 
Boston,  for  ten  years,  from  April,  1824,  to  April,  1834,  obtained 
from  official  sources. 

Criminal  Jail. — 9936  commitments  in  ten  years,  at  an  expense 
of  $20,797  49,  as  taken  from  the  records. 

Debtors''  Jail. — 9306  commitments  for  debt  in  ten  years,  at  an 
expense  of  $137,921  44,  estimating  the  cost  to  creditor  and 
debtor,  including  the  costs  of  suit,  citation  of  creditor,  expense  of 
bail,  fee  of  turnkey,  price  of  board,  loss  of  time  (at  fifty  cents  per 
day),  and  fee  for  oath,  for  ten  years. 

House  of  Correction. — 5611  cases  of  conviction,  and  sentence 
to  the  House  of  Correction  in  ten  years,  at  an  expense  of 
$78,251  25. 

House  of  Industry. — 7588  admitted  to  the  House  of  Industry 
in  ten  years,  at  an  expense  above  their  earnings,  $194,087  67. 

Grand  total  of  expenses  for  these  four  institutions,  $431,057  85 
for  ten  years.  Add  to  the  foregoing  the  expense  of  out-door 
poor,  furnished  by  the  City  Auditor,  viz.  $131,370  92,  and  we 
have  the  enormous  sum  of  $562,428  77  !  and  of  cases,  32,441 , 
which  averages  over  $50,000  expenditure  per  annum  for  Pau- 
perism, Vice  and  Crime,  every  year  for  the  last  ten  years,  in  the 
6  30* 


62  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETT.  [400 

city  of  Boston.  We  leave  out  of  the  estimate  other  institutions 
rendered  necessary  from  the  same  cause,  and  the  interest  on  the 
capital  invested  in  Jail,  House  of  Correction,  and  other  insti- 
tutions. 

Fellow-Citizens, — Why  this  expenditure  of  over  one  half  a 
million  of  dollars  ?  Let  the  Judges  of  our  Courts,  the  Sheriff  and 
other  offices  of  our  Prison,  the  Superintendents  of  our  House  of 
Industry,  and  House  of  Correction,  with  their  Directors  and 
Overseers,  and  their  Physician,  be  heard  in  their  answer  to  the 
following  questions,  recently  proposed  to  each  separate  depart- 
ment of  the  Institutions  referred  to,  as  they  gave  it,  independent 
of  others  : 

What  is  the  cause  of  these  commitments  ? 

'  In  regard  to  the  Criminal  Jail,  I  am  induced  to  believe  that 
more  than  half  of  the  prisoners  have  been  in  the  habit  of  indulging 
in  the  excessive  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  probably  more  than  half 
the  commitments  were  caused  by  intemperance. 

Boston,  April  10,  1834.  Stephen  Badlam.' 

Mr.  Badlam  held  the  office  of  jailer  in  Boston  more  than  thir- 
teen years. 

'  Of  those  committed  to  the  criminal  department  of  our  jail,  I 
have  no  doubt  that  more  than  three-quarters  are  hard  drinkers,  and 
considerably  more  than  half  confirmed  drunkards. 

Boston,  April  9,  1834.  Joshua  Flint,  Physician. ' 

'  I  believe  that  about  three-fourths  of  the  criminals,  and  that 
about  half  of  the  debtors,  in  all  our  jails,  are  addicted  to  intem- 
perance. C.  P.  Sumner. 

April  24,  1834.' 

Mr.  Sumner  has  been  the  Sheriff  of  Suffolk  county  about  seven 
years. 

'  House  of  Correction,  South  Boston,  April  7,  1834. 

Since  my  first  appointment  as  Assistant  Master  of  the  House 
of  Correction  on  the  Glh  of  June,  1823,  all  the  prisoners  have 
been  under  my  immediate  observation. 

Of  those  committed  by  the  Police  Court,  which  are  as  3083, 
to  228,  nineteen  out  of  twenty  have  delirium  tremens.  Of  those 
committed  by  the  Municipal  Court,  which  are  as  228  to  3083,  I 
cannot  judge  from  their  appearance,  as  they  are  sometimes  con- 
fined in  jail  before  trial.  But,  from  careful  inquiry  and  investiga- 
tion, and  many  of  them  having  been  committed  previously  for 
intemperance,  I  feel  no  hesitation  in  stating  (with  very  slight 
exception),  that  all  who  have  been  sentenced  here  for  the  various 
crimes  and  offences  against  the  peace,  originated  from  intem- 
perance in  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

Charles  Robbins,  Master  of  House  of  Cor.' 


401  J  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  63 

Mr.  Robbins  has  held  the.  office  of  Master  since  June,  1S33. 
Before  that  time,  for  ten  years,  he  was  Assistant  Master. 

'  The  Overseers  of  the  House  of  Correction  of  the  city  of 
Boston,  having  been  requested  to  make  a  statement  of  their  opin- 
ion,— how  far  the  habit  of  intemperate  drinking  has  been  instru- 
mental in  producing  the  crimes  for  which  the  inmates  of  that 
house  have  been  sentenced  to  confinement,  have  used  their  best 
judgment  in  the  consideration  of  this  interesting  question,  and 
have  come  to  the  result  by  an  average  of  their  individual  opinions, 
that  seven-eighths  of  all  the  sentences  of  imprisonments  were 
occasioned  more  or  less  directly  by  the  vice  of  intemperance. 
Luther  Faulkner,  "] 

Daniel  Hastings,  Overseers  of  the 

William  T.  Andrews,     I        House  of 
George  Darracott,  Correction. 

Billings  Briggs, 
Boston,  April  28,  1834.' 

'  I  certify  that  of  the  many  persons  who  have  been  subjects  of 
criminal  punishment  within  the  Municipal  Court  of  the  city  of 
Boston,  since  I  have  been  judge  of  the  same,  three-fourths,  at 
least,  have  reason  to  impute  their  disgrace  and  ruin  to  the  intem- 
perate use  of  ardent  spirits.  P.  0.  Thatcher.  ' 

Boston,  April  15,  1834.' 

Hon.  P.  0.  Thatcher  has  been  Judge  of  the  Municipal  Court 
since  May,  1823. 

'  I  have  been  a  Justice  of  the  Police  Court  for  the  city  of 
Boston  from  its  establishment  to  the  present  time,  twelve  years, 
and  am  of  opinion  that  three-quarters  of  the  criminal  conduct 
complained  of  in  that  Court,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquor.  William   Simmons. 

Boston,  April  17,  1834.,' 

'  I  concur  in  the  foregoing  opinion. 

John  Gray  Rogers,  One  of  the  Just,  of  P.  C 

Boston,  April  17,  1834. 

'  During  the  short  time  which  I  have  acted  as  a  Justice  of  the 
Police  Court,  I  have  seen  and  heard  enough  to  satisfy  me  that 
the  above  statement  is  substantially  correct. 

Boston,  April  17,  1834.  James  C.  Merrill. 

What  is  the  principal  cause  of  all  this  crime  V 

1  Having  been  an  officer  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Prison  since 
June,  1828,  I  should  not  doubt  that  three-fourths  of  all  the  con- 
victs committed  to  this  institution,  from  the  city  of  Boston,  were 
persons  who  had  been  in  the  habitual  practice  of  using  ardent 
spirits  to  excess ;  and,  from  the  appearance  of  the  men,  on  their 


64  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [402 

reception,  it  is  probable  that  seven-eighths  of  those  received  were 
of  the  same  character.  Charles  Lincoln, 

Warden  of  the  Mass.  State  Prison. ' 

What  is  the  great  cause  of  this  amount  of  Pauperism,  and 
expense  for  its  support  9 

'  The  whole  number  of  inmates  of  the  House  of  Industry, 
or  Almshouse  at  South  Boston  during  the  year  1833,  was  1273, 
of  whom  930  were  adults,  and  343  children. 

Of  the  adults,  there  have  been  intemperate,  670  ;  supposed  to 
be  temperate,  principally  insane,  idiotic  and  disabled,  101  ; 
unknown,  probably  a  majority  of  them  intemperate,  159. 

Of  the  343  children,  there  are  known  to  have  had  intemperate 
parents,  257  ;  and  of  the  remaining  86,  not  twenty  are  known  to 
have  been  the  offspring  of  temperate  fathers  and  mothers. 

This  statement,  concerning  the  proportion  of  intemperate  in  the 
House,  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  in  1833.  Since 
that  period,  I  have  ascertained  that  three  of  the  101  supposed  to 
be  temperate,  were  drunkards.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  at  least 
three  fourths  of  the  159,  whose  former  habits  are  returned  as 
unknown,  have  been  drunkards. 

Artemas   Simonds,  Superintendant . 

House  of  Industry,  April  8,  1834.' 

Of  119  commitments,  the  last  year,  to  the  State  Prison  in 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  it  appears  that  100,  at  least,  were 
occasioned  by  intemperance.  And  the  15  recommitments,  were 
all  occasioned  in  the  same  way.  Of  120  in  the  State  Prison  at 
Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  more  than  90  were  intemperate.  Of 
647  in  the  State  Prison  at  Auburn,  New  York,  467  were  deci- 
dedly intemperate  ;  and  of  134  in  the  State  Prison  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  only  36  even  pretended  to  be  temperate  men.  And  nearly 
all,  in  all  the  above  cases,  when  at  liberty,  drank  ardent  spirit 
freely;  and  in  a  great  portion  of  the  cases,  persons  not  classed 
among  the  intemperate,  committed  the  crimes  for  which  they  were 
imprisoned,  when  under  the  influence  of  intoxicating  drink.  From 
two-thirds,  to  four-fifths  of  all  the  crimes  committed,  appeal-  to  be 
occasioned  by  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor.  It  leads  men  into 
temptation.  It  gives  to  temptation  a  peculiarly  destructive  power; 
and  multitudes  are  ruined,  when  they  otherwise  would  not  be.  The 
furnishing  of  it,  is  of  course  a  sin,  and  forbidden  by  the  Word  of 
God.  Of  44  persons  found  dead,  the  Coroner's  inquest  is,  that 
38  of  them  came  to  their  death  by  intoxicating  drink.  And  of  44 
cases  of  murder,  investigated  by  three  attorneys,  43  of  them  were 
committed  either  by  intemperate  persons,  or  by  persons,  or  upon 
persons,  under  the  influence  of  liquor.* 

*  Appendix  D. 


403]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  65 

Look  at  it  in  another  light,  as  increasing  the  temptation  to 
drunkenness,  and  giving  to  that  temptation  peculiar  power.  What 
are  the  facts  with  regard  to  this  ?  More  than  ten  times  as  many 
of  those  in  the  United  States,  who  drink  ardent  spirit,  become 
drunkards,  as  of  those  who  do  not  drink  it.  It  is  indeed  the  grand 
cause  of  prevailing  drunkenness,  throughout  the  country.  And  is 
drunkenness  forbidden  ;  and  yet  the  furnishing  of  the  natural,  the 
known  and  the  principal  cause  of  drunkenness,  not  forbidden  ?  Is 
drunkenness  an  immorality;  and  yet  the  prosecution  of  a  business 
which  increases  more  than  four-fold  the  number  of  drunkards,  not 
an  immorality  ?  Will  drunkards  be  shut  out  of  heaven  and  drunk- 
ard-makers not  be  condemned  ?  As  drunkenness  is  an  immo- 
rality; continuing  to  furnish  the  natural,  the  known  cause  of  it,  is 
also  an  immorality.  It  increases  the  power  of  temptation,  and 
makes  men  more  wicked,  and  more  wretched,  than  they  other- 
wise would  be.  It  is  of  course  a  violation  of  a  great  principle  of 
the  Bible,  an  immorality,  which  is  forbidden  by  the  word  of  God. 

III.  Another  principle  of  the  Bible,  is,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 
(Ex.  xx.  13.) 

It  does  not  say,  thou  shalt  not  kill  with  a  knife,  a  pistol,  or  a 
halter  ;  nor  does  it  say  thou  shalt  not  kill  with  opium  or  arsenic  ; 
nor  does  it  say  thou  shalt  not  kill  in  an  instant,  or  a  day,  or  with 
malice  prepense,  or  a  real  intention,  at  the  time,  to  kill;  or  for 
the  sake  of  making  money.  But  it  lays  down  the  broad  principle, 
and  throws  around  that  inestimable  treasure,  human  life,  the  mighty 
rampart  of  divine  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  This  com- 
mand utterly  forbids  the  taking  away  of  human  life,  by  any  means, 
in  any  case,  except  for  good  reasons;  reasons,  in  view  of  which, 
the  Bible  justifies  and  requires  the  act. 

If  a  man  throw  a  stumbling-block  into  the  highway  for  the  pur- 
pose of  sport,  or  to  save  himself  the  trouble  of  removing  it,  when 
he  has  reason  to  believe  that  it  will  endanger  human  life,  and  a 
man  is  killed  by  it,  he  violates  this  command.  If  a  man  let  loose 
a  beast  which  he  knows  is  wont  to  kill,  and  it  does  kill,  he  violates 
this  command;  and  in  such  a  manner,  that  Jehovah,  in  righteous- 
ness, when  judging  among  men,  commanded  that  such  a  man  should 
be  put  to  death.  We  are  not  required  to  execute  that  law  now. 
But  the  reason  of  the  law  remains.  It  is  founded  in  justice,  and 
its  principle  will  be  carried  into  execution  at  the  Great  Day. 

If  a  man  pursue  a  business,  or  do  an  act,  the  natural  or 
probable  consequences  of  which  are  death,  and  it  produces  death, 
he  violates  this  command.  It  is  an  immoral  business,  or  act,  and 
is  forbidden  by  the  word  of  God. 

What  then  are  the  natural  and  probable  consequences,  of  sell- 
ing ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink  ?  Does  it  tend  to  kill  ? 
And  does  it  really  kill?  What  are  the  facts?  In  the  judgment  of 
6* 


66  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [404 

the  most  eminent  and  sober  physicians,  the  highest  evidence  in 
such  cases,  and  that  which  is  relied  on,  in  courts  of  justice,  the 
facts  are,  that  ardent  spirit  is  not  suited  for  a  drink,  and  cannot  be 
used  as  such  without  injury;  that  it  is  a  poison,  which  naturally 
tends  to  kill;  and  actually  does  kill  a  great  portion  of  all  who  drink 
it.      (See  v.  Report  Am.  Temp.  Soc.  pp.  79,  93,  94,  95,  &c.) 

As  a  specimen  of  the  opinion  of  medical  men,  take  die  follow- 
ing examples,  viz. 

The  testimony  of  75  Physicians  in  Boston,  Massachusetts. — 
•l  Men  in  health  are  never  benefitted  by  the  use  of  ardent  spirit; 
on  the  contrary,  the  use  of  it  is  a  frequent  cause  of  disease  and 
death;  and  often  renders  such  diseases  as  arise  from  other  causes, 
more  difficult  of  cure  and  more  fatal  in  their  termination." 

The  testimony  of  forty-five  Physicians  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. — 
"  Ardent  spirit  is  not  only  unnecessary,  but  absolutely  injurious 
in  a  healthful  state  of  the  system;  it  produces  many,  and  aggra- 
vates most  of  the  diseases  to  which  the  human  frame  is  liable — it 
is  equally  poisonous  with  arsenic,  operating  sometimes  more  slow- 
ly, but  with  equal  certainty."  Such  is  the  opinion  of  the  great 
body  of  Physicians   in  the   United   States. 

The  testimony  of  Physicians  in  England,  which  was  presented 
to  the  British  Parliament. 

Physicians  of  Bradford. — "  In  our  opinion  nothing  would  tend  so 
much  to  the  health  of  the  community  as  the  entire  disuse  of  ardent 
spirit ;  which  we  consider  as  one  of  the  most  productive  causes 
of  disease  and  immorality." 

Physicians  of  Cheltenham,  England. — "  Ardent  spirit,  as  an 
article  of  diet,  has  not  the  property  of  preventing  the  accession 
of  any  complaint,  but  may  be  considered  as  the  principal  source 
of  numerous  and  formidable  diseases,  and  the  principal  cause  of 
the  poverty,  disease  and  crime  which  abound  in  the  country." 

Physicians  of  Dublin,  Ireland. — "  In  our  opinion  nothing  would 
tend  so  much  to  improve  the  health  of  the  community  as  the  en- 
tire disuse  of  ardent  spirit." 

Physicians  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland. — "  The  entire  disuse  of 
ardent  spirit,  would  powerfully  contribute  to  improve  the  health 
and  comfort  of  the  community." 

Physicians  of  Leith,  Scotland. — "  Ardent  spirits,  in  any  form 
are  highly  prejudicial  to  health — they  contain  no  nutritive  qual- 
ity, on  the  contrary,  the  daily  use  of  them  often  gives  rise  to 
disease,  and  leads  to  poverty,  misery  and  death." 

Similar  testimony  has  been  given,  the  past  year,  by  several  thou- 
sands of  physicians,  both  in  this  country,  and  in  Europe. '  Similar 
testimony  had  been  given  by  numerous  physicians  before,  and  the 
truth  of  it  had  been  exemplified  by  the  bills  of  mortality  throughout 
the  world. 


405]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  67 

Can  any  one  doubt  then,  but  that  ardent  spirit  tends  to  kill,  and 
that  it  actually  does  kill?  Can  it  be,  as  testified  by  the  most  emi- 
nent physicians,  a  poison,  the  drinking  of  which  is  not  only  need- 
less, but  hurtful  ;  a  principal  cause  of  disease  and  death,  and  not 
kill?  And  can  men  carry  on  the  business  of  furnishing  it,  and 
not  break  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill?"  It  is  impossible. 

A  physician  from  the  State  of  New  York,  writes,  that  he  has 
lived  more  than  forty  years  in  a  town,  which,  at  the  last  census, 
contained  less  than  5,400  inhabitants;  that  the  whole  number  of 
deaths,  of  adult  males,  from  December,  1829  to  January,  1834, 
was  25;  that  16  of  them  were  drunkards;  and  two  of  the  other  nine 
were  young  men,  who  were  suddenly  killed.  The  average  age 
of  the  drunkards  was  44J-  and  they  lived  after  they  became 
drunkards  11|  years.  The  average  age  of  the  seven  who  died  a 
natural  death  was  74^  years.*  Here  is  a  difference  between  the 
life  of  the  sober  and  the  drunken,  of  about  30  years.  Dr.  Cheyne 
of  Dublin,  after  more  than  20  years  extensive  practice,  has  given 
it  as  his  opinion,  that,  let  10  young  men  begin  at  21  years  of  age, 
to  use  but  one  glass  of  ardent  spirit,  of  two  oz.  a  day,  and  never 
increase  the  quantity,  such  are  its  poisonous  qualities,  9  out  of  10 
will, upon  an  average,  shorten  life  more  than  ten  years.  But  let 
us  take  only  half  of  this,  and  two-thirds  of  the  other  number. 
Suppose  that  moderate  drinking  shortens  life  upon  an  average,  five 
years,  and  drunkenness  20;  that  we  have  only  five  moderate 
drinkers  to  one  drunkard,  and  that  there  are  300,000  drunkards 
in  the  United  States,  it  would  cut  off  in  the  course  of  30  years 
40,000,000  years  of  human  life.  This  would  be  equal  to  the 
loss  of  20  years  of  human  life  for  2,000,000  men.  Who  can  avoid 
the  conclusion,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a 
drink,  tends  to  kill,  and  that  it  does  kill,  and  is,  of  course,  a  pal- 
pable violation  of  the  law  of  God? 

But  it  is  said,  it  is  not  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  which  kills,  or 
that  makes  men  idle,  and  vicious;  but  it  is  the  drinking  of  it. 
The  immorality  attaches  only  to  that,  not  to  the  selling  of  it.  But 
does  not  the  selling  minister  to  the  drinking?  and  does  it  not  teach 
that  the  drinking  is  right?  and  thus  tend  to  perpetuate  and  increase 
it?  And  is  not  the  promotion  of  immorality,  immoral?  The 
perpetuating,  and  increasing  of  vice,  vicious? 

As  well  may  the  traitor,  who  furnishes  arms  and  ammunition  to 
the  enemy  in  time  of  war,  say,  that  it  is  not  the  furnishing  of  arms 
to  the  enemy  that  does  the  mischief;  it  is  only  the  using  of  them. 
Of  course,  the  crime  of  treason  attaches  only  to  that.  But  would 
this  save  him  from  the  gallows? 

Others  might  say,  that  it  is  not  the  making   of  firearms  for 

*  The  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society  say  that  they 
are  acquainted  with  this  man,  and  vouch  for  the  correctness  of  his  statement. 


68  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [406 

the  enemy,  or  the  selling  of  them  by  wholesale,  but  that  it  is 
dealing  them  out  by  retail,  that  does  the  mischief;  of  course,  if 
the  crime  of  treason  is  to  be  extended  to  any  thing  beside  the  use, 
it  should  be  confined  to  the  retailing  of  firearms  to  the  enemy. 
But  would  this  save  them?  Is  not  the  making  of  firearms  for  the 
enemy,  the  transporting  of  them  to  him,  the  leasing  of  store- 
houses in  which  to  keep  them,  and  the  selling  of  them,  by  whole- 
sale, as  well  as  retail,  all  treason  ?  The  common  sense  of  man- 
kind has  decided  this  question.  If  the  use  of  them  is  wrong,  the 
making  and  furnishing  of  them,  to  be  used,  is  also  wrong. 

Is  not  the  maker  of  counterfeit  money,  the  wholesale  dealer, 
and  the  retailer,  as  really  guilty,  as  the  man,  who,  to  appease  his 
hunger,  or  quench  his  thirst,  or  to  provide  for  his  family,  passes 
a  little  of  it?  Shall  the  last  be  sent  to  the  State  Prison,  and  the 
others,  because  they  were  a  little  farther  back  from  the  result  of 
the  mischief,  escape?  Counterfeiters,  perhaps,  might  so  decide; 
and  traitors  conclude  that  none  but  such  as  actually  engage  in  bat- 
tle, should  be  hung;  but  would  this  decision  be  sustained  by  rea- 
son, common  sense,  or  the  Bible?  No.  The  decision  of  justice, 
is,  "  the  perpetrator  of  crime  and  the  accessory  to  it,"  are  both 
guilty.  As  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  tends  to  kill,  and  does 
kill  ;  the  making  of  it  to  be  drunk,  the  furnishing  of  it  by 
wholesale  or  retail;  and  the  leasing  of  stores,  in  which  to  deal 
it  out,  are  all  a  violation  of  the  law  of  God;  and  as  such,  will  at 
his  tribunal,  and  ought  at  the  bar  of  public  opinion,  to  be  con- 
demned. So,  also,  ought  the  laws  which  sanction  this  traffic,  by 
licensing  men  to  pursue  it.  They  legalize  a  business,  which,  from 
beginning  to  end,  tends,  even  when  pursued  according  to  law,  to 
shorten  human  life,  and  is  thus  in  its  nature,  a  manifest  violation 
of  the  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  Nor  will  the  fact  that 
a  man  has  a  license  from  the  magistrate,  screen  him  in  the  final 
day.  The  very  law  which  gave  the  license,  was  itself  unlawful; 
and  such  a  law  as  no  man,  rightly  understanding  this  subject,  could 
be  instrumental  in  making,  or  continuing,  without  a  violation 
of  the  law  of  God.  Nor  can  any  man  take  advantage  of  that 
unlawful  law,  and  be  instrumental  to  the  premature  death  of  his 
fellow  men,  without  great  guilt. 

IV.  Another  great  principle  of  the  Bible,  is,  "  Whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 
(Mat.  vii.  12.)  Treat  them  as,  under  a  change  of  circumstan- 
ces, you  ought  to  wish    that  the*-  should  treat  you. 

1 .  If  the  furnishing  of  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  tends 
to  bring  upon  the  men  that  drink  it,  or  upon  their  families,  evils 
which  the  seller  would  not  like  to  have  come  on  himself,  or  his 
family,  then  the  Bible  forbids  it.  And  the  great  question  to  de- 
termine its  morality,  or  immorality,  is,  does  it  tend  to  bring  upon 


107]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  69 

ihe  drinker,  or  his  family,  evils  that  the  seller  ought  not  to  wish  to 
have  come  on  his  family?  To  determine  this,  let  him  suppose 
that  every  intemperate  appetite,  which  the  spirit  that  he  sells 
forms,  and  every  instance  in  which  it  leads  to  drunkenness  and 
ruin,  should  be  in  himself,  his  own  family  and  his  nearest  and 
dearest  friends.  And  that  all  the  misery  and  wretchedness,  the 
blighting  of  hope  and  prospect,  the  sickness,  the  poverty,  the 
crime,  the  shortening  of  human  life,  the  despair,  and  the  destruc- 
tion, should  be  among  them.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that  it  would 
be,  what  he  ought  not  to  wish  to  have  come  upon  them?  If  it 
would,  the  Bible  forbids  him  for  the  sake  of  money,  or  any  other 
reason,  to  prosecute  a  business  which  tends  to  bring  it  upon  others. 
And  if  he,  with  the  facts  before  him,  does  this,  it  is  at  the  peril 
of  his  soul. 

And  to  set  the  matter  for  ever  at  rest,  let  him  suppose  that  some 
man  to  whom  he  sells,  should,  under  the  influence  of  the  liquor, 
come  into  his  family,  and  for  a  day  or  two,  each  week,  take  the 
direction,  and  do  as  he  now  does  in  his  own  family;  turn  them 
out,  naked,  and  barefoot,  occasionally,  amidst  the  damps  and 
storms  of  night,  and  of  winter,  would  it  be  such  treatment  as  he 
ought  to  wish  to  have  come  upon  his  family?  If  not,  the  Bible 
forbids  him  to  be  accessory  to  the  bringing  of  it  upon  other  families. 

Does  he  say,  that  he  does  not  sell  to  drunkards  ;  that  that  would 
be  enormously  wicked,  and  that  he  sells  only  to  sober  men  ?  Let 
him  then  suppose  that  one  of  those  sober  young  men,  to  whom  he 
sells,  and  who  will  form  an  intemperate  appetite  and  die  a  drunk- 
ard, is  his  only  son.  Ought  he  to  wish  that  his  son  should  come 
to  such  an  end  ?  Even  supposing  that  the  man  who  makes  him  a 
drunkard  does  it  according  to  law,  and  does  not,  after  he  becomes 
a  drunkard,  continue  to  sell  to  him,  but  turns  him  over  to  some 
other  man,  who  is  wicked  enough  to  sell  to  drunkards  till  they 
die ;  does  that  help  the  matter  ?  Will  he  not  look  upon  the  man 
who  made  him  a  drunkard,  as  guilty  as  the  man  that  killed  him  ? 

Which  does  the  greatest  mischief  to  the  community,  the  man 
who  kills  drunkards,  or  the  man  who  turns  sober  men  into  drunk- 
ards ;  and  thus  prepares  them,  as  fast  as  drunkards  are  removed, 
to  step  forward  and  fill  their  places,  and  roll  the  horrors  of  drunk- 
enness onward  from  generation  to  generation  ? 

Here  is  a  country  that  has  in  it  300,000  drunkards.  One  class 
of  merchants  sell  to  them,  and  thus  upon  an  average,  kill  about 
that  number  in  ten  years.  Had  these  drunkards  no  successors, 
drunkenness  would  soon  cease.  The  man  who  sells  to  them, 
would  remove  the  whole,  and  if  no  new  drunkards  were  made,  the 
land  would  be  free.  But  there  is  another  class  of  merchants  who 
sell  to  sober  men  ;  and  as  fast  as  one  generation  of  drunkards  is 
removed,  they  raise  up  another.  Thus  while  selling  poison  to 
31 


70  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [408 

drunkards  kills  them,  and  would  in  a  short  time  remove  drunken- 
ness from  the  land ;  selling  it  to  sober  men  perpetuates  drunken- 
ness ;  and  while  it  is  continued,  cuts  off  the  possibility,  that  it  can 
ever  be  removed.  It  causes  the  fire  of  human  passion,  vice,  and 
wickedness,  to  burn  with  an  intensity,  and  to  blaze  with  a  fierce- 
ness that  never  can  be  quenched.  Which,  then,  does  the  greatest 
mischief  to  the  community  ? 

The  Philadelphia  Medical  Society,  as  before  mentioned,  ap- 
pointed a  Committee  to  investigate  the  effect  of  intemperance  on 
human  life  in  that  city.  After  careful  inquiry,  they  reported  that 
in  their  opinion,  out  of  4292  deaths,  700,  at  least,  or  more  than 
one  in  seven  of  the  whole  number,  were  occasioned,  directly  or 
indirectly,  by  strong  drink.  Suppose  that  these  deaths  had  been 
occasioned  by  the  use  of  poisoned  flour,  which  some  of  the  mer- 
chants had  sold ;  and  after  careful  investigation  by  the  medical 
society,  the  fact  is  published  to  the  world.  Would  it  not  be  an 
immorality  to  continue  to  sell  that  flour  ?  Even  if  they  should 
not  sell  it  to  any  that  were  already  poisoned  ?  Would  it  not  be  a 
violation  of  the  command,  "Thou  shalt  not  kill  ?"  Or  would  it 
be  enough  to  say,  that  it  is  not  the  selling  of  the  flour  that  does 
the  mischief,  especially  if  sold  by  wholesale,  but  only  the  eating 
of  it ;  or  at  most,  the  retailing  ? 

Would  not  the  selling  of  that  flour  in  any  way,  to  be  eaten, 
tend  to  kill  ?  and  to  bring  upon  the  wives  and  the  children  of  the 
men  who  should  eat  it,  evils,  that  the  sellers  ought  not  to  wish  to 
have  come  on  their  wives,  and  their  children  ?  Suppose  some  of 
them  should  say,  "  We  never  sell  to  men  who  are  poisoned 
to  death  already,  or  who  are  so  poisoned  that  they  cannot  attend 
to  business  ;  especially  enough  to  pay  us  for  what  they  buy.  We 
sell  only  to  the  healthy.  And  when  we  perceive  that  a  man  begins 
to  stagger,  or  lose  his  reason,  we  instantly  stop  ;  and  let  others 
who  are  willing  to  take  the  amazing  responsibility  of  killing  men, 
do  the  rest.  Therefore,  our  business  is  not  immoral."  Is  it 
therefore  not  immoral  ?  If  a  man  is  to  be  killed  by  twenty  blows, 
is  he  only  guilty  who  strikes  the  last  ;  or  he  only,  who  hastens 
death  a  few  hours  sooner,  than  his  fellow  would  have  done  it  ? 

Suppose  those  merchants  should  change  and  sell  this  poisoned 
flour  to  those  only,  who  are  poisoned  already,  even  to  death  ; 
how  long  would  it  be  before  all  the  sick  would  be  removed,  and 
none  remain  but  the  healthy  ?  But  ah,  some  sell  to  the  healthy, 
and  thus,  the  diseased  and  the  dying  never  cease. 

Let  sellers  of  the  drunkard's  poison,  sell  to  none  but  drunkards, 
and  the  last  of  them  will  soon  be  removed,  and  the  spectacle  of 
an  immortal  being, — who  might  bear  the  image,  and  shine  for  ever 
in  the  presence  of  his  Maker, — polluted,  debased,  and  ruined  by 
drunkenness,  will  never  again  be  seen. 


409]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  7j 

But  the  crime,  of  most  peculiar  aggravation,  when  measured  by 
the  mischief  which  is  done  to  the  community,  is,  some  men  will 
sell  to  the  sober.  And  these  often  are  sober  men ;  of  course 
their  example  has  greater  weight.  The  pure  unvitiated  appetite, 
which  God  has  given  for  useful  nourishment,  they  by  the  drunk- 
ard's poison,  pervert ;  which  perversion  is,  by  the  laws  of  nature, 
like  the  letting  out  of  great  waters.  The  only  way  to  prevent  its 
mischief,  is,  that  which  is  required  by  the  first  principles  of 
morality  and  religion,  "the  letting  it  alone  before  it  is  meddled 
with."  Every  step  from  this  point,  is  a  step  in  the  way  of  trans- 
gression ;  the  tendency  of  which,  growing  greater  and  greater, 
the  farther  you  proceed,  is,  like  that  of  every  sin,  toward  eternal 
death. 

2.  There  is  another  light  in  which  this  traffic  may  be  viewed,  as 
dishonest ;  and  that  not  merely  on  account  of  the  enormous  frauds 
that  are  often  practised  in  it,  but  on  account  of  the  nature  of  the 
business  itself.  Honesty  requires  that  a  valuable  equivalent  should 
be  furnished  for  money  which  is  received.  But  the  trafficker  in 
ardent  spirit  renders  no  such  equivalent.  He  gives  to  the  buyers 
that  which  is  not  only  absolutely  worthless,  but  positively  hurtful ; 
and  is  thus,  in  principle,  guilty  of  gross  dishonesty.  It  is  doing, 
in  this  respect,  directly  contrary  to  what  he  ought  to  wish  that 
others  should  do  to  him. 

3.  It  is  unjust  towards  the  community. 

Not  only  does  it  increase  the  sickness  and  the  deaths,  but  by 
increasing  the  pauperism  and  crimes,  and  public  expenditures,  it 
adds  greatly  to  the  pecuniary  burdens  of  every  people  among 
whom  it  is  continued.  It  increases  the  taxes  for  the  support  of 
pauperism,  and  the  prosecution  of  crimes,  above  what  they  other- 
wise would  be,  as  we  have  seen,  more  than  four-fold.  This  is 
palpably  unjust.  No  man  has  a  right  to  carry  on  a  business, 
which,  for  the  profit  of  a  few,  burdens  the  many.  Justice  forbids 
it.  Here  is  a  county  which  has  in  it  1000  paupers  ;  750  of  them 
were  made  such  by  drinking.  The  profit  of  making  these  pau- 
pers is  enjoyed  by  a  few  ;  the  burden  of  supporting  them  comes 
on  the  whole  community.  This  is  unjust.  It  is  a  violation  not 
only  of  the  principles  of  morality,  but  of  equal  rights  and  common 
honesty.  No  man  can  pursue  it,  and  not  injure  his  fellow  men. 
Instead  therefore  of  infringing  the  rights  of  the  sellers,  when 
the  community  complain  of  their  business,  and  wish  the  civil  law 
to  refrain  from  obliging  the  public  to  bear  its  burdens,  as  the  sellers 
pretend,  the  sellers  are  constantly  trampling  on  the  rights  of  the 
community,  and  unjustly  burdening  the  public  with  taxes  to  sup- 
port the  paupers  and  prosecute  the  criminals  that  the  sellers  make. 
Of  this,  every  community  has  just  cause  to  complain.  It  is 
injustice  and  oppression,  under  the  cover  of  law.     And  of  such 


72  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [410 

laws,  as  well  as  of  such  traffic,  they  have  just  cause  to  continue 
for  ever  to  complain.  And  for  their  removal  and  abandonment, 
they  have  just  cause  by  all  suitable  means  to  continue  to  labor,  till 
their  efforts  are  successful,  and  the  nuisance  is  done  away. 

V.  Another  great  principle  of  the  Bible,  is,  "Abstain  from 
fleshly  lusts  which  war  against  the  soul." — (1  Pet.  ii.  11.)  In 
the  fleshly  lusts,  from  which  men  are  here  commanded  to  abstain, 
are  included  those  bodily  gratifications  which  tend  to  injure  the 
soul.  With  regard  to  such  gratifications,  the  command  is  not, 
indulge  in  them  moderately,  prudently,  but  abstain  from  them 
Abstinence,  entire,  in  such  cases,  is  the  only  moral  course. 

If  the  gratification  which  ardent  spirit  occasions,  and  to  obtain 
which,  men  so  often  drink  it,  tends  to  injure  the  soul,  then  the 
Bible  forbids  it.  And  the  only  question  is,  does  it  tend  to  injure 
the  soul  ?  What  are  the  facts  ?  Can  it  tend,  as  we  have  seen  that 
it  does,  to  lead  men  into  temptation,  and  give  to  that  temptation 
peculiar  and  fatal  efficacy  to  overcome  and  destroy  them,  and  not 
injure  the  soul  ?  Can  it  increase  fourfold  the  prospect  of  their 
becoming  idle,  vicious,  or  drunken,  and  not  injure  the  soul  ? 
Can  it  tend,  as  we  have  seen  that  it  does,  with  such  a  mighty 
power  to  increase  their  diseases,  and  to  shorten  their  lives,  and 
not  tend  to  injure  the  soul  ?  Can  it  bring  such  mighty  evils  on 
others,  and  be  so  obviously  dishonest  and  unjust  toward  their  fellow 
men,  and  not  tend  to  injure  their  own  souls  ?  No ;  the  thing  is 
impossible.  It  is  one  of  those  fleshly  lusts,  from  which  God  com- 
mands men,  all  men,  every  where,  at  all  times,  to  abstain. — (See 
Sixth  Report  of  American  Temperance  Society,  p.  57  and  58.) 
And  not  only  does  it  injure  the  soul  by  increasing  its  wickedness,  but 
by  counteracting  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  all  the  means  of 
grace,  and  thus  rendering  it  less  likely  that  that  wickedness  will  ever 
be  removed.  It  tends  powerfully  to  hinder  the  illumination  and  pu- 
rification of  the  soul ;  and  thus  to  prevent  its  salvation.  Facts  have 
set  this  matter  at  rest.  Where  a  part  of  the  people  have  abstained 
from  ardent  spirit,  and  a  part  continued  to  drink  it,  ten  times  as 
many,  in  proportion  to  the  number,  have  appeared  to  embrace 
the  gospel,  and  have  professed  publicly  their  faith  in  the  Saviour, 
from  one  class  as  from  the  other. — (See  Fourth  Report  of  Ameri- 
can Temperance  Society  p.  51  and  81. — Fifth  Report  do.  p.  38, 
83,  and  98. — also,  Sixth  Report  do.  p.  16,  57,  &c.) 

It  tends  then  to  injure  the  soul ;  and  as  such,  it  is  forbidden,  by 
the  God  of  heaven.  As  the  salvation  of  the  soul  is  the  greatest 
of  all  blessings,  that  which  tends  most  to  hinder  this,  is  among  the 
greatest  of  evils.  Of  all  the  practices  of  men,  few  have  a  greater 
tendency  to  do  this,  than  that  of  using  ardent  spirit.  This  results 
not  merely  from  the  great  and  increasing  quantity  that  may  be 
taken,  but  from  the  kind  of  the  liquor  itself.     A  quantity  that  does 


411 J        •     SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  73 

not  deprive  a  man  of  reason,  or  speech,  or  power  of  motion, 
and  attention  to  business,  may  nevertheless  prevent  the  effect  of 
divine  truth,  and  keep  him  in  a  state  of  hardness  of  heart,  and 
blindness  of  mind  through  life ;  when  he  might,  were  it  not  for 
this,  be  illuminated,  purified,  and  saved.  The  effect  of  ardent 
spirit  on  the  mind,  from  beginning  to  end,  is  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  effect  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  One  tends  with  a  powerful  and 
fatal  efficacy  to  hinder  the  other.  Hence  the  fact,  that  when  men 
wish  to  promote  error  in  principle,  or  immorality  in  practice  ;  to 
lead  others  to  abandon  the  truth,  or  to  make  money  upon  their 
vices,  nothing  is  more  common,  or  more  successful,  than  to  fur- 
nish them  with  ardent  spirit,  and  induce  them,  if  practicable,  to 
drink  it.  Error  and  delusion,  immorality  and  wickedness,  of 
almost  every  description,  other  things  being  equal,  prevail  most  in 
those  places  in  which  men  are  most  accustomed  to  the  drinking 
of  ardent  spirit.  And  if  they  can  generally  perpetuate  this  practice, 
vice  will  be  triumphant  in  spite  of  all  efforts  to  check,  or  con- 
trol it.  In  illustration  of  the  above,  we  invite  the  attention  of  all, 
to  the  following  facts. 

A  number  of  years  ago,  Christians  in  various  countries,  began 
with  greater  zeal  and  fidelity  than  before,  in  obedience  to  the 
command  of  Christ,  to  extend  his  gospel  to  all  people.  He 
crowned  their  efforts  with  success.  Multitudes  renounced  idola- 
try, and  professed  their  faith  in  the  Redeemer.  The  illuminating 
and  purifying  influence  of  the  gospel  in  the  promotion  of  literature, 
science,  and  civilization,  with  all  their  attendant  blessings,  was 
felt  throughout  whole  nations.  The  wilderness  began  to  bud  and 
blossom  as  the  rose,  and  the  desert  places  to  become  vocal  witS 
the  praises  of  God. 

Among  those,  thus  highly  favored,  and  who  had  literally  been 
brought  out  of  darkness  into  marvellous  light,  were  the  inhabit- 
ants of  some  of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  Christians  of  Great 
Britain  were  the  first  to  carry  them  the  gospel,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  they  rejoiced  in  the  signal  manifestations  of  divine  favor. 
Churches  were  gathered  ;  schools  opened  ;  printing  presses  estab- 
lished, and  information  was  eagerly  sought,  and  extensively  circu- 
lated ;  vice,  frowned  upon  by  public  opinion,  was  abashed;  and 
the  prospect  continued  to  brighten,  that  Christianity  and  civiliza- 
tion, and  learning,  with  all  their  inestimable  benefits  for  the  present 
and  future  life,  would  shortly  be  extended  over  all  that  part  of  the 
world. 

But  some  men  from  this  country,  and  from  Great  Britain,  for 
the  purpose  of  counteracting  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  draw- 
ing men  back  again  to  their  vices,  or  for  purposes  of  gain,  or  both, 
introduced  among  them  quantities  of  ardent  spirit.  They  opened 
7  31* 


74  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [412 

numerous  grog-shops,  and  induced  the  natives  to  engage,  not  only 
in  drinking,  but  in  the  traffic.  The  result  will  be  seen  by  the 
following  letter  from  the  Secretaries  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Temperance  Society,  to  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
American  Temperance  Society. 

"  British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  ) 
Jlldine  Chambers,  Jan.  21st,  1834.  5 
Rev.  and  dear  sir, — The  subject  upon  which  we  venture 
now  to  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  will  perhaps  be  best 
introduced  by  at  once  transcribing  a  letter  we  have  recently 
received  from  the  Secretary  of  '  the  London  Missionary  Society;' 
and  we  trust  its  contents  will  plead  our  apology  for  calling  your 
attention  to  the  distressing  facts  which  it  discloses. 

c  Mission  House,  Austin  Friars,  16th  Dec.  1833. 

Sir, — You  will  doubtless  have  seen  from  some  of  the  publica- 
tions of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  demoralization  pro- 
duced at  some  of  the  Islands  of  the  South  Seas,  by  the  increased 
use  of  ardent  spirits ;  large  quantities  of  which  has  been  imported 
by  our  countrymen,  and  Americans,  &c,  and  hawked  about  the 
settlements,  as  well  as  sold  in  barrels.  Recent  accounts  from  the 
Islands  are,  in  reference  to  this  subject,  most  discouraging.  Our 
brethren  state,  that  the  besetting  sin  of  Tahiti  at  present  is  drunk- 
enness— that  it  had  produced  the  greatest  mischief  in  the  churches, 
and  had  in  some  ports  prevailed  to  such  an  extent,  that  in  one  of 
the  churches,  the  administration  of  the  Ordinance  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  had  been  discontinued  ;  and  when  speaking  of  the  effects 
of  increased  intemperance,  and  of  the  war  on  Tahiti,  one  of  the 
missionaries  observes,  "  I  have  seen  more  wickedness  within  the 
last  two  weeks  than  in  eighteen  years  before." 

The  arrival  of  these  tidings  has,  as  you  will  naturally  suppose, 
plunged  the  Directors  in  the  deepest  distress.  The  use  of  those 
deleterious  articles,  appears  to  have  been  greatly  augmented,  by 
foreigners  of  different  nations  having  established  a  number  of  grog- 
shops among  them  for  retailing  spirits,  and  by  the  Chiefs  having 
been  induced  to  become  traffickers  in  rum. 

The  extent  and  disastrous  operation  of  this  immoral  habit,  has 
led  the  Directors  to  devise  and  apply  the  most  suitable  remedies, 
and  among  many  others,  they  have  instructed  me  to  bring  the 
matter  under  the  notice  of  your  committee,  with  a  request  that 
they  would  correspond  with  the  American  Temperance  Society 
for  the  purpose  of  adopting  the  most  effectual  measures  for  dimin- 
ishing the  use  of  ardent  spirits  among  American  seamen,  and  pre- 
venting its  importation  to  the  South  Sea  Islands  :  and  also  that 
they  would  direct  their  best  efforts  to  the  promotion  of  temperance 


413J  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  75 

among  British  sailors,   especially  among  those  employed  in  the 
Pacific. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  your  faithful  friend  and  servant, 

J.   Arundel,  Home  Secretary. 

N.  E.  Sloper,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Temperance  Society. " 

Such,  dear  sir,  are  the  circumstances  of  the  case  which  it  is 
our  painful  duty  to  bring  under  your  notice.  It  would  have  been 
far  more  grateful  to  our  feelings  had  it  been  in  our  power  to  have 
congratulated  you,  that  the  gigantic  efforts  you  have  been  putting 
forth  on  behalf  of  the  temperance  cause  had  done  as  much  for  the 
seamen,  who  visit  the  countries  in  question,  as  it  has  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God  for  tens  of  thousands  on  your  favored  continent. 

We  had  fondly  hoped  this  was  in  some  happy  measure  the 
case,  and  when  the  melancholy  statements  referred  to  in  the  accom- 
panying communications  reached  us,  we  scarcely  knew  whether 
the  feeling  of  surprise  or  alarm  most  prevailed. 

In  our  reply  to  the  Directors  we  have  indeed  hinted  that  there 
is  perhaps  yet  a  source  of  consolation  arising  from  the  reflection 
that  these  very  facts  which  we  all  so  much  deplore,  may  be  the 
proof  of  the  prosperity  of  the  cause  in  your  country,  the  effect  of 
which  may  have  been  that  the  dealers  in  these  poisonous  drugs, 
beaten  out  of  their  own  market,  have  been  driven  into  other  parts 
to  find  purchasers  for  them. 

But  after  all  it  is  a  humiliating  consideration  that  our  cause  has 
made  so  little  progress  and  that  the  work  of  God  should  have 
been  thus  marred.  Well  may  those  of  us  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic  who  have  been  privileged  to  do  any  thing  towards  pro- 
moting the  Temperance  Reformation  exclaim,  '  that  our  hands  are 
this  day  weakened.' 

Were  we  writing  to  Christian  brethren  less  zealous  than  those 
we  have  the  pleasure  to  address,  we  might  fear  that  our  co-opera- 
tion in  the  good  work,  would  not  be  cordially  welcomed  ;  but 
assured  as  we  are  that  its  prosperity  lies  near  your  hearts,  we  are 
emboldened  thus  to  write.  You  will — we  know  you  will — allow 
us  the  honor  of  being  workers  together  with  you.  We  are 
indeed  painfully  aware  how  feeble  are  all  the  efforts  we  can  bring 
to  bear  upon  a  system,  which  might  well  laugh  to  scorn  our 
attempts  to  check  its  progress,  did  the  success  of  those  exertions 
depend  on  our  own  strength  and  wisdom ;  but  our  encouragement 
is  this,  that  He  whose  cause  we  trust  and  believe  it  is,  is  greater 
than  all  those  who  are  against  us,  and  that  his  name  is  often  mag- 
nified by  the  meanness  of  the  instruments  by  which  his  mighty 
purposes  are  brought  to  pass. 


76  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [414 

If  He  be  pleased  to  command  success, '  the  weak  shall  be  as 

David,  and  David  as  the  Angel  of  God.' 

We  are,  Rev.  and  dear  sir,  yours  very  respectfully, 

N.  E.   Sloper,  ) 

John  W.  Ramsbotham,     I   c,       .     .     ,, 
m  TT  ,  Secretaries. 

1  homas  Hartley,  '. 

John  Capper,  J 

The  same  subject  is  referred  to  in  the  following  communication 
from  the  Secretary  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  to  one  of 
the  Secretaries  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  and  by  him  transmitted  to  the  Corresponding 
Secretary  of  the  American  Temperance  Societv. 

"  London,  Dec.  16th,  1833. 
My  dear  sir, — My  last  to  you,  dated  October  12th,  inform- 
ing you  of  the  appointment  of  two  of  our  brethren  to  the  southeast 
cluster  of  the  Marquesas,  and  assuring  you  of  the  satisfaction  it 
would  afford  the  Directors  to  hear  that  you  had  commenced  Mis- 
sionary operations  in  the  northwest  cluster  of  the  same  group, 
was,  I  hope,  duly  received.  In  my  previous  letter  dated  Sept. 
3d,  in  that  part  which  referred  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  I 
informed  you  that  our  brethren  gave  us  very  affecting  accounts 
of  the  demoralization  produced  by  the  increased  use  of  ardent 
spirits  ;  large  quantities  of  which  had  been  imported  by  our  coun- 
trymen and  yours,  and  hawked  about  the  settlements,  as  well  as 
sold  in  barrels,  and  that,  as  it  had  proved  a  source  of  profit 
able  barter  to  the  principal  chiefs,  it  was  not  so  much  discounte- 
nanced as  formerly.  Recent  accounts  from  the  Islands,  are  in 
reference  to  this  subject,  even  more  discouraging  than  those  pre- 
viously received.  Our  brethren  state  that  the  besetting  sin  in 
Tahiti  at  present  is  drunkenness  ;  that  it  had  produced  the  greatest 
mischief,  in  the  churches,  and  had  in  some  parts  prevailed  to  such 
an  extent  that  in  one  of  the  churches  the  administration  of  the 
ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  had  been  discontinued  ;  and  when 
speaking  of  the  effects  of  increased  intemperance  and  the  war  in 
Tahiti,  one  of  the  missionaries  observes,  '  I  have  seen  more  wick- 
edness within  the  last  two  weeks,  than  in  eighteen  years  before.' 
The  arrival  of  these  tidings  has,  as  you  will  naturally  suppose, 
occasioned  the  Directors  the  deepest  distress.  They  have  com- 
municated the  same  to  the  supporters  of  the  Society  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Chronicle  for  the  month  of  November,  and  believe  they 
have  shared  in  the  sympathy  and  prayers  of  the  Christian  public 
at  large.  The  use  of  the  deleterious  drugs  already  referred  to, 
appears  to  have  been  greatly  increased  by  foreigners  of  different 
nations  having  established  a  number  of  grog-shops  on  shore  for 
retailing  spirits,  and  by  the  chiefs  having  been  induced  to  become 
traffickers  in  rum.     The  extent  and  disastrous  operation  of  this 


415]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  77 

immoral  habit  has  led  the  Directors  to  endeavor  by  mature  delib- 
eration, with  special  prayer  for  divine  guidance,  io  devise  and 
apply,  without  delay,  the  most  effectual  remedies.  With  this 
view  they  have  written  most  fully  and  urgently  to  the  missionaries, 
recommending  the  formation  and  extension  of  Temperance  Soci- 
eties, and  have  sent  selections  of  the  most  approved  works  on  the 
subject,  which  the  friends  of  the  temperance  cause  in  England  have 
published,  for  translation  into  the  native  language.  They  have 
also  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  British  and  Foreign  Tem- 
perance Society,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  Temperance  among 
seamen,  and  with  the  British  and  Foreign  Seamens'  Society,  with 
a  view  to  direct  the  attention  of  that  Society,  especially  to  the 
moral  improvement  of  seamen  visiting  the  Pacific.  They  further 
purpose  writing  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Islands,  to  bring  the  subject 
in  a  suitable  manner  under  their  consideration. 

We  are  encouraged,  by  the  conviction  that  as  the  evils  of  the 
use  of  ardent  spirits  are  more  fully  manifested,  good  men  of  ever) 
country  will  unite  in  promoting  their  exclusion  from  all  civilized 
and  Christian  society,  and  individuals,  who  from  motives  of  sordid 
interest  shall  persevere  in  cherishing  and  promoting  among  par- 
tially enlightened  and  civilized  tribes,  a  habit  so  destructive  of 
whatever  is  commendable,  so  detrimental  to  all  intellectual  and 
social  improvement,  so  prolific  of  crime, — and,  excepting  in  cases 
of  extraordinary  prevention,  so  inevitably  ruinous,  shall  be  found 
only  among  the  most  debased  and  worthless  portions  of  society. 

We  feel  persuaded  you  will  cordially  sympathize  in  our  feelings 
of  deep  distress  on  account  of  the  evils  that  prevail  in  our  mis- 
sionary stations,  and  cheerfully  aid  us  by  every  means  in  your 
power  in  effecting  their  diminution  and  removal.  And  as  our 
brethren  inform  us  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  spirits  used  at 
Tahiti,  &c.  is  conveyed  in  American  ships,  some  from  Boston; 
that  it  is  chiefly  what  is  termed  New  England  rum,  that  is  import- 
ed to  the  islands,  and  that  in  some  vessels  it  comprises  a  consid- 
erable part  of  the  cargo  taken  for  barter  with  the  people,  I  am 
instructed  by  the  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  to 
request,  which  I  do  with  the  most  entire  confidence,  that  you  will 
favor  them  with  your  Christian  co-operation;  and  use  your  best 
endeavors  to  prevent,  to  the  utmost  practicable  extent,  the  contin- 
ance  of  the  evil. 

The  most  effectual  means  of  securing  an  object  so  desirable 
will  more  readily  occur  to  yourselves,  than  to  them.  Whether  by 
a  correspondence  with  the  American  Temperance  Society,  or  by 
using  your  influence  with  owners  and  masters  of  vessels  visiting 
the  islands  to  induce  a  greater  number  of  them  to  forego  the  gain 
that  might  be  secured  by  the  traffic  in  an  article  of  absolute  inu- 
tility, and  scarcely  less  pernicious,  morally,  than  arsenic  would  be 
7* 


78  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [416 

physically,  or  by  any  other  means  it  shall  appear  to  you  that  it  can 
be  best  accomplished;  we  rest  assured  from  the  vigorous  efforts 
the  religious  portion  of  the  community  in  America,  has  already 
made,  and  the  impulse  in  favor  of  temperance  which  you  have 
given  to  your  own  country  and  ours,  that  we  may  rely  on  your 
cordial  and  sincere  assistance. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  on  behalf  of  the  Directors,  faithfully  and 
affectionately  yours, 

''Signed)  W.   Ellis,  Foreign  Secretcmj." 

Such  are  the  effects  of  ardent  spirit  in  counteracting  the  efficacy 
of  the  gospel,  and  in  destroying  the  souls  of  men.  Can  there  be 
a  doubt  then,  but  that  the  principles  of  Christianity,  and  even  of 
humanity,  utterly  forbid  the  traffic  in  it? 

At  their  first  meeting  after  the  reception  of  the  above,  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  American  Temperance  Society  passed  the  following 
Resolutions,  viz. 

1 .  Resolved,  That  the  communications  from  the  Secretary  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  and  from  the  Secretaries  of  the 
British  and  Foreign  Temperance  Society,  be  published  for  the 
information  and  consideration  of  the  American  community. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  our  brethren  in 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  in  Great  Britain,  in  view  of  the  dis- 
tresses, which,  through  the  agency  of  some  of  our  countrymen, 
have  been  brought  upon  them;  and  deplore  the  calamities  which 
that  agency  has  inflicted,  by  obstructing  in  those  islands  the  pro- 
gress of  the  gospel,  demoralizing  the  character  of  their  inhabit- 
ants, and  destroying,  in  vast  numbers,  the  lives  and  souls  of  men. 

3.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is  respectfully  suggested 
to  those  persons  who  are  engaged  in  transporting  ardent  spirit  to 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  or  in  any  way  connected  with  the  traffic  in 
it,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  by  the  unevangelized,  or  partially  civil- 
ized nations  and  tribes  of  men,  whether  the  injury  which  they  are 
doing  to  their  fellow  men,  in  ministering  to  their  vices,  multiply- 
ing their  diseases,  shortening  their  lives,  and  endangering  their 
souls,  is  not  greater  than  the  benefits,  which  from  the  prosecution 
of  this  traffic  can  result  to  themselves;  and  whether  the  principles 
of  morality,  the  motives  of  humanity,  and  even  of  self-respect, 
ought  not  to  induce  them,  in  view  of  its  evils,  entirely  to  abstain 
from  it. 

4.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is,  respectfully  suggested 
to  all  ministers  of  the  gospel,  all  officers  and  members  of  Ameri- 
can Churches,  whether  in  view  of  the  poisonous  nature  and  de- 
structive effects  of  ardent  spirit,  it  is  not  their  duty,  not  only  to 
abstain  from  the  drinking  of  it,  and  the  traffic  in  it  themselves,  but 
to  increase  their  exertions  till  the  like  abstinence  shall  become 
universal. 


417]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  79 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is,  respectfully  suggested 
to  the  consideration  of  the  churches  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
whether  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  and  the  precepts  of 
the  Saviour,  do  not  forbid  the  continuance  of  a  practice  or  the 
promotion  of  a  business  so  manifestly  immoral,  and  so  awfully  de- 
structive, as  that  of  furnishing  ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  for  their 
fellow  men  ;  and  whether  in  their  associated  as  well  as  in  their 
individual  capacity,  they  are  not  bound  to  make  strenuous  and 
persevering  efforts  to  promote  its  speedy  and  universal  abandon- 
ment. 

6*.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is,  respectfully  suggested 
to  all  Christian  legislators,  whether  an  immorality  so  strongly  mark- 
ed and  so  highly  injurious  to  the  social,  civil  and  religious  interests 
of  men  in  all  ages,  and  all  countries,  as  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit, 
ought  ever  to  be  licensed;  or  its  continuance  in  any  way  to  re- 
ceive the  sanction  of  Christian  legislation. 

7.  Resolved,  That  editors  of  papers  and  periodicals,  friend- 
ly to  the  cause  of  Temperance,  throughout  the  United  States,  be, 
and  hereby  are,  respectfully  requested  to  insert  the  above  resolves 
and  the  letters  referred  to,  in  their  publications. 

John  Tappan, 

George  Odiorne, 

Heman  Lincoln, 

Justin  Edwards, 

Enoch  Hale,  Jr. 


Exc.  Com. 
Jim.  Temp.  Soc 


The  Pastoral  Association  of  Massachusetts,  at  their  meeting  in 
Boston,  May  28,  1834,  passed  the  following  Resolutions,  viz. 

1 .  Resolved,  That  we  hear  with  deep  regret  that  some  of  our 
countrymen  are  engaged  in  exporting  ardent  spirit  to  the  South 
Sea  Islands,  and  in  selling  it  to  be  used  as  drink;  thereby  increas- 
ing the  diseases,  demoralizing  the  character,  shortening  the  lives, 
and  endangering  the  souls,  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the 
world. 

2.  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  our  brethren  in 
those  islands,  and  in  Great  Britain,  in  view  of  the  distresses  which 
these  events  have  brought  upon  them,  and  especially  in  view  of  the 
hindrance  which  they  have  occasioned  to  the  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  to  the  promotion  of  civilization  and  Christianity. 

3.  Resolved,  That,  as  ardent  spirit  is  a  poison,  the  drinking  of 
which  is  highly  injurious  to  the  bodies  and  minds  of  men;  as  it 
tends  to  prevent  their  intellectual  elevation,  their  social  improve- 
ment, and  their  eternal  salvation,  the  traffic  in  it,  to  be  used  as  a 
drink,  and  especially  the  exporting  or  furnishing  of  it  to  the  un- 
civilized and  partially  civilized  nations  and  tribes  of  men,  is,  in  our 
view,  a  gross  violation  of  the  revealed  will  of  God, — an  immo- 


80  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [418 

rality,  which  ought  to  be  reprobated,  and  abandoned  throughout 
the  world. 

4.  Resolved,  That  we  will  cheerfully  co-operate  with  the  friends 
of  humanity,  by  the  diffusion  of  information,  the  exertion  of  kind 
moral  influence,  and  in  all  suitable  ways,  to  cause  a  practice  so 
manifestly  immoral,  so  disgraceful  to  our  country,  and  destructive 
to  our  fellow  men,  universally  to  cease. 

5.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  respectfully  and 
earnestly  suggested  to  the  consideration  of  all  pastors  and  church- 
es, whether  the  continuance  of  this  traffic,  by  members  of  the 
church,  is  not  manifestly  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  Christ;  wheth- 
er it  does  not  tend  to  prevent  the  success  of  the  gospel,  and 
especiLMy  among  the  heathen;  and  whether  suitable  and  effectual 
measures  ought  not  to  be  taken  to  remove  an  evil  so  offensive  to 
God,  and  so  hurtful  to  men,  from  the  Christian  church. 

G.  Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  it  hereby  is,  respectfully  and  earn- 
estly suggested  to  the  consideration  of  all  legislators,  whether  the 
perpetuating  of  this  traffic,  by  licensing  men  to  pursue  it,  is  not  a 
violation  of  the  great  principles  of  morality,  as  well  as  of  political 
economy;  and  whether,  if  the  continuance  of  legislation  on  this 
subject  is  required  by  the  public  good,  it  ought  not  to  be,  on  the 
ground  of  defending  the  community  from  the  evils  of  the  traffic, 
and  not  on  the  ground  of  licensing  it. 

Warren  Fait,  Moderator. 

George  W.  Elagden,  Secretary. 

Similar  Resolutions  have  been  passed  by  the  General  Associa- 
tions of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  by  the  General 
Conference-  o  Maine  ;  bodies  embracing  more  than  500  ministers 
of  the  gospel,  and  more  than  600  churches. 

With  reference  to  the  same  subject,  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States,  at  their  meeting  in 
Philadelphia,  June  2,  1834,  passed  the  following  Resolutions,  viz. 

1.  Resolved,  That  we  deeply  sympathize  with  our  brethren  in 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  and  in  Great  Britain,  in  view  of  the  dis- 
tress which  through  the  agency  of  some  of  our  countrymen,  have 
been  brought  upon  them,  and  deplore  the  calamities  which  that 
agency  has  occasioned,  by  obstructing  in  those  islands,  the  progress 
of  the  gospel,  demoralizing  the  character,  and  destroying  the  lives 
and  souls  of  men. 

2.  Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  sending  out  ardent  spirit,  to 
be  used  as  a  drink  by  the  unevangelized,  and  partially  civilized 
nations  and  tribes  of  men,  is  in  our  view  a  violation  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  precepts  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  ought  to  be 
abandoned  throughout  the  world. 

3.  Resolved,     That  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a 


419]  SEVENTH    REPORT.— 1834.  81 

drink  by  any  people,  is  in  our  judgment  morally  wrong,  and 
ought  to  be  viewed  as  such,  by  the  churches  of  jesus 
Christ  universally. 

In  view  of  the  information  referred  to  in  the  above  Resolutions, 
the  editor  of  the  Boston  Recorder  remarks, — "  It  needs  no  com- 
ments, but  will  call  fordi  the  deep  sympathy  of  all  the  friends  of 
Temperance  and  of  Religion  in  our  land,  towards  the  unfortunate 
tribes  to  whom  it  relates.  Will  not  merchants  in  our  highly  favored 
land,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  forbear  at  length  to  send 
liquid  poison  to  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  when  they  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  mischief  it  is  doing?  Surely  if  they  will  not, 
'  They  know  not  what  they  do;'  and  the  silver  thus  accumulated, 
'will  eat  like  canker,'  and  cause  them  and  their  posterity  bitter 
lamentation  when  entering  upon  that  state  to  which  we  are  all  has- 
tening, and  'where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling.'  That  it  is 
connected  with  such  doings,  is  a  disgrace  to  American  enterprise, 
which  all,  who  are  in  any  way  engaged  in  business  in  that  part  of 
the  world,  ought  to  be  the  most  anxious  to  wipe  off.  If  it  is  an 
honor  that  our  shipping  visits  every  sea  and  every  shore,  it  is 
INFAMY  thus  to  scatter,  wherever  it  touches,  the  seeds  of  crime 
and  disease  and  wretchedness  and  death.  Who  are  the  guilty  men? 
Who  is  willing  to  be  known  as  a  participator  in  this  business?  " 

In  view  of  the  same,  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Observer 
remarks, — "  For  many  years  the  Society  Islands  have  been  quot- 
ed in  Europe  and  America  as  a  fine  specimen  of  the  happy  effects 
of  Christian  missions  in  elevating  the  character  and  improving  the 
condition  of  a  heathen  nation.  With  the  blessing  of  God  on  the 
labors  of  the  missionaries,  the  people  had  abandoned  their  bloody 
superstitions,  and  were  advancing  rapidly  in  religion  and  civiliza- 
tion. But,  alas!  the  demons  who  deal  in  rum  have  alighted  on 
their  shores,  and  all  is  again  one  extended  scene  of  moral  desola- 
tion. No  man,  we  think,  can  read  the  above  without  feeling  that 
the  men  who  send  rum  from  this  country,  to  be  sold  in  the  Society 
Islands,  deserve  to  be  ranked  with  the  most  depraved  of  their 
species."  And  as  the  nature  and  tendency  of  rum  is  the  same, 
every  where,  may  not  this  be  said  of  those  who  understand  this 
subject,  and  yet  continue  to  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  to  be  used  as  a 
drink,  in  other  countries?  Are  they  not  taking  a  course  which  is 
adapted  to  destroy  the  bodies  and  souls  of  men? 

The  editor  of  the  Christian  Watchman  remarks, — "  Our  Chris- 
tian friends  will  be  grieved  on  reading  the  above;  and  this  grief 
will  be  the  more  painful,  when  they  reflect  that  merchants  and 
traders,  bearing  the  name  of  Christian,  are  the  guilty  agents  in 
spreading  this  wickedness.  The  intelligence  that  ardent  spirits  are 
introduced  into  these  Islands  by  Americans,  and  by  British  subjects, 
is  humiliating.  We  most  sincerely  hope,  that  traders  in  the  pois- 
32 


82  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [420 

on  of  ardent  spirits,  will  desist  from  this  traffic  immediately,  wit- 
nessing as  they  do,  that  it  spreads  sin  and  death  wherever  its 
influence  extends." 

And  the  editor  of  Zion's  Herald  remarks, — "  It  is  painful  thus 
to  see  the  labors  of  devoted  missionaries,  for  a  series  of  years, 
blasted  by  the  introduction  and  sale  of  that  fiery  liquid,  which  now 
seems  to  be  rolling  round  the  globe,  laying  waste  all  that  is  fair 
and  lovely. 

Will  merchants  in  our  highly  favored  land,  who  call  them- 
selves Christians,  not  forbear  to  send  liquid  poison  to  the  other 
side  of  the  globe,  when  they  hear  of  the  havoc  it  is  making? 
Surely,  if  they  will  continue  this  traffic,  they  know  not  what  they 
do,  and  the  silver  thus  acquired  '  will  eat  like  a  canker,'  and  cause 
them  and  their  posterity  bitter  lamentations,  when  entering  upon 
that  state  to  which  we  are  all  hastening — '  where  the  wicked  cease 
from  troubling. '  It  is  a  foul  blot  upon  the  American  name,  that 
such  things  are  done.  Let  us  know  who  are  the  guilty  authors 
of  it,  that  the  innocent  may  not  suffer  with  those  who  deserve  and 
will  receive  our  execration." 

Similar  sentiments  of  abhorrence  of  these  destroyers  of  all  that 
is  excellent,  and  lovely,  and  glorious;  and  of  deep  regret  at  the 
vice,  degradation  and  ruin,  which  they  have  occasioned,  have 
been  expressed  by  numerous  other  editors,  individuals,  and  bodies 
of  men.  The  evils  are  such  as  might  well  make  angels  weep. 
Not  only  are  the  hopes  and  efforts  of  benevolence  for  the  pro- 
motion of  happiness  in  this  world  blasted,  but  destruction  from  the 
presence  of  the  Lord  and  the  glory  of  his  power,  there  is  reason 
to  fear,  will  in  many  cases  be  the  woful  result.  And  such  are  the 
known  and  legitimate  fruits  of  this  poison  in  every  country,  in 
which  it  is  used;  and  especially  among  the  unevangelized  and  par- 
tially civilized  nations  and  tribes  of  men.  This  it  is  which  has 
caused  the  American  Indian  to  melt  away  before  the  white  man 
like  the  dew  before  the  rising  sun.  And  this  it  is,  which  has  hin- 
dered the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  caused  vice  and  wickedness, 
desolation  and  death,  wherever  it  has  been  used,  in  every  country, 
and  among  all  people,  throughout  the  world.  Its  constant,  invari- 
able tendency,  is,  to  increase  human  wickedness,  and  to  counteract 
all  the  merciful  designs  of  Jehovah,  and  the  benevolent  efforts  of 
his  people,  for  the  salvation  of  men.  The  gratification  which  it 
occasions  wars  with  a  mighty  force  against  the  soul,  and  from  it 
God  commands  men  to  abstain. 

VI.  Another  principle  of  the  Bible,  is,  "  As  we  have,  therefore, 
opportunity,  letus  do  good  unto  all  men."  (Gal.  vi.  10.)  Amanhas 
no  moral  right,  natural  or  acquired,  to  prosecute  any  business  that 
does  not  tend  to  do  good  to  his  fellow  men.  If  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  does  not  tend  to  do  good  to  man- 


421]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  83 

kind,  and  especially  if  it  tends  to  do  evil,  a  man  has  no  moral  right 
to  pursue  it.  The  question,  then,  is,  Does  it  tend  to  (io  good? 
What  are  the  facts  ?  They  are  such  as  have  been  mentioned ; 
and  may  be  summed  up  under  the  following  heads,  viz. 

1.  Ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  not  needful  or  useful. 

2.  It  is  highly  injurious  to  the  body  and  the  mind. 

3.  It  tends  to  form  intemperate  appetites  and  to  lead  to  drunk- 
enness and  ruin. 

4.  3t  multiplies  the  incentives  to  evil,  and  gives  to  them  pecu- 
liar power  over  the  mind. 

5.  It  greatly  increases  the  amount  of  pauperism  and  crime,  and 
thus  augments  the  pecuniary  burdens  of  the  community. 

6.  In  the  above,  and  in  various  other  ways,  it  causes  an  immense 
loss  of  property. 

7.  It  increases  the  number  and  severity  of  diseases,  and  tends 
powerfully  to  obstruct  their  removal. 

8.  It  shortens  many  lives. 

9.  It  ruins  many  souls. 

10.  If  continued,  it  will  tend  to  perpetuate  these  evils,  and  to 
increase  them,  to  all  future  ages. 

Instead  of  doing  good,  therefore,  it  does  evil,  and  nothing  but 
evil.  To  all  these  tremendous  and  overwhelming  calamines,  there 
is  no  countervailing  benefit.  And  while  the  cause  of  them  is  con- 
tinued, they  never  can  be  prevented.     The  Bible  then  forbids  it. 

"  Whether,  therefore,  ye  eat  or  drink,  or  whatsoever  ye  do,  do 
all  to  the  glory  of  God,"  is  another  principle  of  the  Bible,  which 
the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  manifestly  violates.  Numerous  others 
might  be  mentioned.  It  violates  all  those  principles  which  require 
men  to  honor  God  or  do  good  to  mankind;  it  is  manifestly  hostile 
to  both;  and  no  principle  of  religion,  morality,  or  humanity,  will 
justify  its  continuance. 

Even  were  it  true,  as  some  have  erroneously  supposed,  that  the 
evils  result,  not  from  drinking  a  moderate  quantity,  but  from  great 
excess  in  quantity;  still,  it  would  be  wicked  to  drink  it,  or  to  traf- 
fic in  it,  because  it  is  now  proved  by  millions  of  facts,  that  men 
are  better  without  it.  And  as  the  drinking  of  a  small  quantity, 
tends  to  the  drinking  of  a  larger  quantity;  to  the  formation  of  in- 
temperate appetites  and  habits,  and  to  all  their  evils,  it  is  manifest- 
ly wicked  to  drink  it,  even  in  moderate  quantities,  or  to  furnish  it. 
But  the  supposition  is  not  true.  And  as  such  is  the  nature  of 
this  liquor  that  its  effects  are  injurious  in  all  quantities,  there  is  no 
light  in  which  it  can  be  viewed,  in  which  the  use  of  it,  or  the 
traffic  in  it,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  not  manifestly  an  immorality, 
and  an  immorality  as  aggravated  as  the  mischiefs  which  it  tends  to 
produce. 

But.  says  one,  "A  thing  is  not  immoral  which  is  viewed  as  re- 


84  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [422 

spectable,  or  in  which  men,  deemed  respectable  in  the  community, 
are  engaged." 

Then  you  have  only  to  make  immorality  respectable,  and  it 
ceases  to  be  immorality.  The  selling  of  indulgences  for  the 
commission  of  sin,  was  once  viewed  by  some  people  as  respecta- 
ble; and  it  is  still  practised  in  some  places,  and  sanctioned  by  the 
government  as  a  respectable  employment.  (See  Sixth  Report 
Am.  Temp.  Soc.,  pp.  79  and  80.)  But  is  it  not  sinful?  Or  does  it 
lose  its  sinful  character,  because  men  deemed  respectable,  are  en- 
gaged in  it?  Men  deemed  respectable  were  engaged  in  the  cru- 
cifixion of  the  Saviour,  and  it  has  sometimes  been  thought  to  be 
respectable  to  put  his  friends  to  death?  But  was  it  not  an  immo- 
rality? The  character  of  actions  does  not  change  with  the  opinions 
of  men.  If  actions  are  immoral  when  execrated,  they  are  immor- 
al when  praised.  And  there  may  be  in  this  case,  greater  reason 
than  in  the  other,  to  declare  them  to  be  immoral.  The  very  fact 
of  their  being  deemed  respectable,  and  practised  by  respectable 
men,  instead  of  being  a  reason  why  they  should  not  be  denounc- 
ed as  immoral,  may  be  a  powerful  reason  why  they  should  be.  It 
may  be  impossible  to  change  public  sentiment,  or  for  good  men  to 
do  their  duty,  if  they  do  not  denounce  such  practices  as  immorali- 
ties ;  and  immoralities,  which,  if  understood  and  persevered  in, 
will  bring  upon  their  perpetrators,  the  wrath  of  the  Most  High. 

"But  it  is  not  right,"  says  another,  "to  denounce  men." 
The  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  is  not  a  man;  the  traffic  in  it  is  not 
a  man.  There  is  nothing  of  the  attributes,  or  that  deserves  the 
appellation  of  a  man,  about  either.  They  are  practices,  which 
God,  in  his  word  and  providence,  for  wise  and  good  reasons,  we 
have  no  doubt,  by  evidence  greater  than  in  a  case  of  life  or 
death,  would  satisfy  any  impartial  court  in  Christendom,  has 
shown  to  be  wicked.  Fidelity  to  him  requires  his  people,  in 
words  and  in  deeds,  to  treat  them  as  such.  If  sins  may  not  be 
declared  to  be  sins,  because  men  practise  them,  they  can  never 
be  called  by  their  right  name;  and  will  never  be  treated  according 
to  their  real  character.  They  must  be  spoken  of  as  sins,  if  you 
would  lead  the  community  to  view  and  treat  them  as  such.  And 
if  any  man  who  practises  those  sins,  thinks  that  so  saying,  we 
condemn  him,  he  must  renounce  them.  That  is  the  proper  way 
to  escape  condemnation.  It  is  the  only  way.  While  to  forbear 
to  declare  sins,  to  be  sins,  is  the  way  to  perpetuate  them. 

Nor  is  there  any  thing,  as  the  objection  would  insinuate, 
immodest,  or  unkind  in  declaring  an  immorality  so  strongly  marked, 
as  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  in  the  plainest  and  strongest  manner, 
to  be  an  immorality.  It  is  only  speaking  the  truth  in  love,  con- 
cerning a  practice  in  which  some  are  engaged,  which  is  endanger- 
ing their  souls,  and  the  souls  of  their  fellow  men. 


423J  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1S34.  85 

Is  it  not  proper,  kindly  and  plainly,  to  say  that  gambling  is  an 
immorality  ?  But  what  mischief  does  that  do,  compared  with  the 
traffic  in  ardent  spirit  ?  Is  it  not  proper  to  say  that  counterfeiting 
the  public  coin,  and  theft,  are  immoralities  ?  But  what  mischief 
does  either,  or  do  both  of  them  do  to  the  community,  compared 
with  the  mischiefs  produced  by  the  sale  and  drinking  of  ardent 
spirit  ?  Says  an  eloquent  advocate  of  the  temperance  cause,* — ' '  If 
the  truth  press  hard  upon  the  heart  of  a  fellow  man  ;  if  a  fact  fall 
like  a  thunderbolt  upon  his  head,  he  is  not  to  be  offended  with  me. 
Did  /  make  the  truth,  or  the  fact  ?  Have  /  led  him  to  do  the 
act,  which  gives  to  truth  all  its  cutting  power  ?  or,  have  I  made 
him  the  author  of  the  fact ;  the  mere  statement  of  which  is  as  the 
bursting  of  thunder  upon  his  ear  ?  Has  not  he  performed  the 
action,  which  gives  to  truth  its  sword  of  double  edge  ?  and  has 
not  himself  been  guilty  of  the  fact,  the  very  hearing  of  which  is 
as  the  pouncing  of  a  vulture  upon  his  vitals?  Should  he  not  be 
angry  with  himself,  and  at  once  enter  upon  the  way  of  reforma- 
tion ?  And,  if  the  little  I  can  say,  produces  such  a  commotion  in 
his  soul,  how  will  he  stand  the  exhibition  of  the  great  day,  the 
light  of  the  judgment  ?  If,  the  truth  I  tell,  raises  such  a  storm  in 
his  bosom  ;  if  he  quail  before  the  glow-worm  light  shed  around 
him  by  a  fellow  man,  if  his  conscience  is  roused  to  frenzy,  and 
all  the  plausible  and  false  reasonings  must  be  seized  upon  to  give 
him  temporary  quiet,  how  will  such  a  man  stand  before  the  bar  of 
ineffable  light,  and  truth,  and  rectitude  ?  Let  him  tremble  now^ 
while  he  reflects  what  God  is,  and  before  what  judgment  seat 
he  will  soon  be  summoned,  when  the  summons  must  and  icill  be 
heard  and  obeyed." 

"  Well,"  it  is  said,  "I  have  no  objection  to  its  being  spoken 
of  as  an  immorality  by  individuals,  but  why  should  it  be  done  by 
public  bodies  ?"  Because  public  bodies  have  influence,  and 
the  greater  the  number  of  those  who  unite  in  condemning  a  prac- 
tice that  is  wicked,  the  greater  the  effect.  It  is  so  on  all  other  sub- 
jects, and  the  friends  of  this  cause  have  judged  that  it  would  be 
so  on  this.  Hence  the  reason,  why  the  American  Congressional 
Temperance  meeting,  the  United  States'  Temperance  Convention, 
ten  State  Temperance  Conventions,  numerous  State  and  County 
Temperance  Societies,  and  various  other  bodies  of  men  of  all 
professions  and  employments,  and  from  all  parts  of  our  country, 
and  multitudes  in  other  countries,  have  united  in  declaring  to  the 
world  their  deep  and  solemn  conviction,  that  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is  an  immorality,  and  ought  to  be 
abandoned  throughout  the  world.  Nor  have  they  stopped  with 
an  expression  of  their  opinion.     They  have  in  various  ways  given 

*  Professor  Dewejr. 

8  32* 


86  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [424 

to  the  world  the  reasons  of  that  opinion  ;  and  facts  demonstrate 
that  these  reasons  commend  themselves  powerfully  to  the  con- 
science, and  move  strongly  upon  the  heart.  They  are  adapted  to 
do  this.  And  should  they,  by  all  the  friends  of  temperance,  be 
universally  communicated,  and  enforced  by  a  consistent  example, 
they  would  go  on  from  conquering  to  conquer.  Founded  as  they 
are  in  truth,  they  take  hold  on  the  moral  nature  of  man  ;  point 
him,  as  an  immortal  being,  to  a  world  of  unerring  retribution,  and 
to  a  time  when  the  universe  shall  witness  concerning  each  indi- 
vidual, that  as  he  hath  sown,  so  shall  he  also  reap.  And  though 
uttered  by  the  breath  of  feeble  dying  men,  yet  coming  as  they  do 
from  the  hearts  of  thousands,  and  as  the  echo  of  that  voice  that 
spake  and  it  was  done  ;  stamped  on  the  flying  page,  and  scattered 
as  by  the  wings  of  the  wind,  they  have  caught  the  eye  and  reached 
the  heart  of  thousands,  whose  lips  uttered  "  Glory  to  God  in  the 
highest,  good  will  to  men;"  but  whose  hands  scattered  fire-brands, 
arrows,  and  death.  Many  fountains  that  poured  forth  their 
scorching  poison  have  since  ceased  to  flow  ;  and  deserts  long 
scathed  with  their  burning  contents,  have  become  like  gardens  of 
the  Lord.  Joy  and  gladness  have  been  found  in  them  ;  thanks- 
giving, and  the  voice  of  melody.  Men  in  great  numbers  have 
ceased  to  prey  upon  their  fellow  men  ;  or  to  live  supremely  for 
themselves  ;  and  in  glorifying  God,  and  doing  good,  have  shown 
the  character,  begun  the  business,  and  enjoyed  foretastes  of  the 
bliss  of  heaven. 

Should  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  be 
universally  viewed  and  treated,  as  it  has  been  shown,  by  the  word 
and  providence  of  God,  to  be  in  truth,  an  immorality,  and  as  such 
be  abandoned,  it  would  do  much  to  hasten  the  time,  when  this 
should  be  the  case  with  all  men  throughout  the  earth. 

The  means  under  Providence  of  universally  accomplishing  this 
result,  is,  the  universal  dissemination  of  the  reasons  why  this  should 
be  done,  with  earnest  desire  and  fervent  prayer  for  the  blessings 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  render  them  successful.  That  this  may  be 
done,  these  reasons,  the  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society  have  embodied  in  this,  and  their  three  last  Reports. 
These  Reports,  as  before  stated,  are  stereotyped  and  paged 
continuously,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  volume,  exhibiting  the 
great  principles  and  facts  on  this  subject,  and  adapted  to  universal 
circulation.  And  before  closing  this  Report,  which  is  to  com- 
plete the  volume,  on  the  wickedness  of  using  or  trafficking  in 
ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  they  would  briefly  address  four  classes 
of  men,   viz :    Moderate    drinkers  ;    men    who    furnish 

THEM  WITH  ARDENT  SPIRIT  ;  MINISTERS  OF  THE  GOSPEL,  AND 
MEMBERS   OF  CHRISTIAN  CHURCHES. 


4251  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  87 


ADDRESS. 

I.  To  moderate  drinkers.  By  these  we  mean  men  wh» 
drink  ardent  spirit,  but  who  do  not  get  intoxicated. 

Fellow  Citizens — You  are  a  class  of  persons  like  those 
with  whom  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  commenced  ;  and  to 
whom  it  was  designed,  by  sober  men,  to  be  confined.  Their 
object  in  its  introduction,  as  a  drink,  was  not  to  make  drunkards, 
but  to  benefit  sober  men.  But  such  is  the  nature  of  this  liquor, 
and  such  the  character  of  men,  that  if  they  drink  it,  it  will  injure 
them,  and  in  many  cases,  lead  to  drunkenness  and  ruin.  Obser- 
vation, and  the  experience  of  250  years,  have  proved  this. 

Of  course  it  must  be  wicked  to  drink  it,  unless  it  is  needful  or 
useful.  But  the  great  body  of  all  intelligent  physicians  who  have 
examined  this  subject,  testify  that  it  is  neither.  And  the  experi- 
ence of  millions  of  men,  show  that  their  testimony  is  true.  And 
it  is  also  proved  by  the  experience  of  all  who  have  given  it  a  fair 
trial,  that  men  of  all  ages,  and  in  all  kinds  of  lawful  business,  are 
better  without  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  than  with  it.  More  than  a 
million  of  men  have  made  the  experiment.  Of  course,  the  point 
is  settled.  Men  are  better  without  it.  It  is,  then,  wicked  for  you 
to  drink  it.  Because  by  drinking  it,  you  teach  the  doctrine  that  it 
is  needful,  or  useful,  or  innocent ;  no  one  of  which  is  true.  You 
perpetuate  a  practice,  which,  if  perpetuated,  will  form,  and  perpet- 
uate, and  increase  intemperate  appetites,  and  lead  multitudes  down 
to  death.  And  you  do  this,  without  any  good  reason,  and  against 
all  good  reasons.  And  if  this  does  not  appear  so  to  you,  it  is 
because  you  drink  spirit,  and  while  you  continue  to  drink  it,  you 
will  be  under  its  deluding  power.  Being  in  its  nature  a  mocker, 
it  will  deceive  you.  The  fact  that  you  think  it  does  you  good, 
shows  that  you  are  deceived.  It  is  one  of  those  things  which 
make  men  call  evil,  good,  and  good,  evil ;  and  to  do  it  often  with 
great  confidence.  But  it  is  wicked  to  be  thus  deceived ;  and 
especially  amidst  all  the  light  which  God,  in  his  Word,  and  by  his 
providence,  has  furnished,  is  it  wicked  to  perpetuate  that  decep- 
tion, and  be  the  means  of  extending  and  perpetuating  its  influence 
over  others.  We  entreat  you,  therefore,  for  your  own  sake,  and 
for  the  sake  of  others,  that  you  would  renounce  the  drinking  of 
ardent  spirit  for  ever. 

There  is  another  reason  why  we  most  earnestly  entreat  you  t» 
do  this.  You  are  instrumental  in  perpetuating  the  traffic  in  ardent 
spirit.  It  would  not  be  in  the  power  of  all  the  drunkards  in  the 
world  to  perpetuate  this  traffic,  if  it  were  not  for  the  moderate 
drinkers.  There  would  be  hardly  a  man  in  the  community  foolish 
enough  to  continue  it  for  drunkards  only,  after  all  sober  men  have 


88  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [426 

renounced  the  drinking  of  it.  And  if  a  man  should  do  it,  drunk- 
ards only  would  not  long  make  profitable  customers  ;  and  the  man 
who  should  furnish  spirits  to  them,  and  thus  perpetuate  their 
abominations,  would  be  esteemed  by  the  community  as  among  the 
most  guilty  of  the  whole.  Sellers  of  this  poison  often  declare 
that  they  would  not  keep  it  a  day,  for  drunkards  merely.  But  they 
have  some  sober,  respectable  customers  that  want  it ;  and  they  keep 
it  for  them.  This  is  the  case  with  the  great  body  of  sober  rum- 
sellers.  For  this  reason  we  most  earnestly  entreat  you  to 
renounce  for  ever  the  drinking  of  it.  If  you  do  not,  you  are  loaded 
with  the  amazing,  the  overwhelming  responsibility  of  perpetuating 
that  awfully  immoral  traffic,  and  its  abominations.  It  is  a  respon- 
sibility, which,  if  you  continue,  you  will,  to  all  eternity,  wish  that 
you  had  thrown  off,  or  never  assumed.  As  friends  to  you,  to 
your  children,  and  to  the  community,  we  entreat  you  ;  as  friends 
to  the  Saviour  and  the  eternal  interests  of  men,  we  entreat  you  for 
their  sakes,  for  your  own  sake,  and  for  His  sake,  to  renounce 
.  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit.  And  unless  your  experience  shall 
be  altogether  different  from  that  of  1,500,000  others  who  have 
renounced  it,  you  will  have  reason  to  bless  God,  and  thank 
chose  who  induced  you  to  take  this  course,  for  ever  and  ever. 

II.    To   THOSE  WHO   FURNISH  ARDENT   SPIRIT  TO  MODERATE 
DRINKERS. 

The  ardent  spirit  which  you  sell  is  composed  ot  alcohol  and 
water.     Alcohol  is  composed  of  hydrogen,  carbon,  and  oxygen,  in 
the  proportion  of  about  14,  52,  and  34  parts  to  the  hundred  ;  and 
is,  as  all  chemists  and  physicians  know,  a  poison.     When  taken 
in  small  quantities,  it  disturbs     healthy  action,  produces  an  unnat- 
ural excitement,  and  causes  more  or  less  disease  ;  and  when  taken 
'in  large  quantities,  or  in   smaller  quantities  habitually,  destroys 
'  human  life.     According  to  the  testimony   of  the  most  eminent 
physicians,  and  those  best  acquainted  with  this^ubject,  more  than 
30,000  persons  have  been  killed  by  it,  in  the  United  States,  in  a 
year.     And  those  who  have  drunk  it,  have  generally  had  then- 
lives  much  shortened.     It  has  also  been  the  cause  of  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  diseases  with  which  our  countrymen  have  been  afflicted; 
and  has  often  rendered   those  diseases  which  have  arisen  from 
other  causes  more  fatal  than  they  otherwise  would  have  been.     It 
has  also  occasioned,  as  you  know,  a  great  portion  of  all  the  pau- 
perism, crimes,  and  wretchedness  which  have  prevailed.     It  has 
hindered  men  from  becoming  rizhteous,  and  rendered  them  much 
more  wicked.     It  has  greatly  obstructed  the  progress  of  the  gospel, 
and  all  means  for  human  salvation ;  and  been  instrumental,  there  is 
reason  to  believe,  in  the  ruin  of  many  souls.     While  the  traffic  in  it 
is  continued,  these  evils  will  be  perpetuated  ;  and  you  will  be  held 
accountable  to  God  for  being  instrumental  in  producing  them. 


427]  SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834.  89 

It  is  now  known  that  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  is  not  need- 
ful, or  useful ;  and  that  men  in  health,  under  all  circumstances,  are 
better  without  it.  Facts  prove  this.  Of  course,  it  is  manifestly- 
wicked  to  drink  it.  Yet  by  selling  it  you  teach  the  doctrine,  that 
the  drinking  of  it  is  right.  This  doctrine  is  false,  and  to  multi- 
tudes, it  is  fatal.  You  cannot,  in  view  of  the  facts,  without  great 
guilt  and  danger,  continue  to  teach  this  doctrine.  It  is  teaching 
a  falsehood. 

By  furnishing  ardent  spirit  to  moderate  drinkers,  you  help  to 
form  intemperate  appetites,  and  to  perpetuate  intemperance.  If 
none  were  sold  except  to  drunkards,  they  would  all  soon  be  dead; 
and  if  no  other  drunkards  were  made,  drunkenness  would  cease. 
But  by  selling  it  to  moderate  drinkers,  as  fast  as  one  generation 
of  drunkards  are  killed,  another  is  prepared  to  fill  their  places  ; 
and  then  another,  and  another  ;  and  so  drunkenness  is  perpetuated. 
The  men  who  sell  to  moderate  drinkers,  are  therefore  accessory 
to  all  these  evils  ;  and  are  in  fact  instrumental  in  producing  and 
perpetuating  them.  This  is  wicked.  We  entreat  you,  therefore, 
not  to  do  it.  It  will,  in  the  end,  injure  )rou.  It  will  endanger 
your  salvation,  and  will  destroy  many  of  your  fellow  men. 

You  also,  by  increasing  the  pauperism  and  crimes,  greatly 
increase  the  pecuniary  burdens  of  the  community.  The  taxes  of 
the  people  for  the  support  of  paupers  and  the  prosecution  of 
criminals,  are  through  your  instrumentality  greatly  augmented. 
This  is  positively  unjust.  You  have  no  moral  right  for  your  own 
individual  profit,  even  if  it  were  profitable,  to  carry  on  a  business 
which  thus  tends  to  injure  the  public.  It  is  a  violation  of  one  of 
the  first  principles  of  common  law,  and  is  forbidden  by  the  Bible; 
and  if  you  were  not  shielded  by  an  unjust  statute,  you  would  be 
liable  to  indictment  at  common  law,  for  perpetuating  a  nuisance. 
Many  a  man  has  been  indicted,  and  convicted,  and  condemned, 
for  causing  a  nuisance  that  did  not  do  to  the  community  half  the 
mischief   which    is    done  by  your  business. 

But  do  you  say,  that  as  you  have  a  license,  and  are  thus  shielded 
by  human  statute  from  legal  prosecution,  you  are  therefore  shielded 
from  guilt  ?  This  is  by  no  means  the  case.  The  law  which 
licenses  you  to  carry  on  this  immoral  business,  is  itself,  an  immoral 
Ijw.  It  was  passed  while  men  were  under  the  delusion  of  sup- 
posing that  ardent  spirit,  if  taken  moderately,  is  beneficial.  This 
is  now  known  to  be  false.  Of  course  all  the  supposed  foundation 
for  licensing  the  traffic  in  it,  has  vanished.  Had  the  facts  always 
been  known  on  this  subject,  which  are  known  now,  and  men  been 
disposed  to  do  right,  it  never  would  have  been  licensed.  And  the 
licensing  of  it  ought  not  now  to  be  continued.  And  while  it  is 
continued,  it  does  not  justify,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  any  one  in 
taking  out  a  license, — or  in  selling  spirit,  if  he  has  one.     As  the 


90  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [428 

thing  is  in  itself  wrong,  no  human  statute,  and  no  l'rense  of  men 
can  make  it  right  ;  or  secure  any  one,  acquainted  with  the  subject, 
if  he  continues  in  it,  from  the  withering  indignation  of  the  Almighty. 
It  is  not  honest.  You  do  not  furnish  to  the  moderate  drinker 
any  thing  of  real  value  for  his  money.  He  had  better  be  without 
it.  And  should  he,  after  paying  for  the  spirit,  turn  it  on  the 
ground,  it  would  be  better  for  him  than  it  is  to  drink  it.  It  does 
him  real  injury.  Do  you  say  that  you  are  not  answerable  for 
that  injury,  if  he  chooses  to  drink  it?  But  if  you  know,  as  by 
doing  youi  duty  might  know,  that  it  is  to  him  an  injury,  you  are 
answerable.  You  have  no  moral  right  to  take  his  money  for  that 
which  you  know,  or  might  know,  will  only  injure  him  ;  much  less 
have  you  a  right  to  teach  by  business,  as  you  do,  the  falsehood, 
that  it  will  benefit  him.  And  if  you  continue  to  do  this,  you  will, 
by  the  Divine  Being,  by  your  own  conscience,  and  by  an  enlight- 
ened community,  be  condemned. 

There  is  another  view  in  which  you  are  doing  an  immense 
injury  to  mankind.  You  are  aiding  in  perpetuating  a  practice 
which  will  greatly  expose  the  children  and  youth  to  pursue  a 
course,  that~will  blast  their  characters,  destroy  their  usefulness, 
and  ruin  their  souls. 

Who  gave  you,  and  who  can  give  you  a  moral  right  to  pursue  a 
business  "which  increases  four-fold  the  exposure  of  our  children  and 
youth  to  become  drunkards,  and  be  ruined  ?  a  business  that  tends 
to  demoralize  their  character,  to  increase  their  diseases,  to  shorten 
their  lives,  and  destroy  their  souls  ?  Who  gave  you,  or  who  can  give 
you,  a  moral  right  to  increase  the  pauperism  and  crimes,  the  pecu- 
niary burdens  and  the  wretchedness  of  the  community  ?  to  aid  in 
perpetuating  a  custom,  diat,  if  continued,  will  perpetuate  intemper- 
ance, and  roll  its  desolating  curses  over  future  generations  ?  Who 
gave  you,  or  who  can  give  you  a  moral  right  to  obstruct  the 
progress  of  the  gospel,  and  hinder  the  gracious  reign  of  the 
Redeemer  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  ;  and  thus  to 
counteract  his  merciful  designs  for  their  spiritual  illumination  and 
eternal  salvation  from  sin  and  death,  and  their  restoration  to  the 
purity  and  blessedness,  the  light  and  glory  of  heaven  ?  No  one 
has  given  you  this  right  —  and  no  one  can  do  it.  There  is  no 
such  moral  right  for  any  creature  in  the  universe.  You  are  acting 
in  this  business  against  all  moral  right.  And  when  the  community, 
long  and  grossly  injured,  complain,— instead  of  infringing  your 
rights,  you,  while  you  continue,  are  constantly  trampling  on  theirs. 
You  are  doing  injuries,  not  only  which  you  have  no  moral  right 
to  do,  but  which  no  legislator  has  any  moral  right  to  license  you 
to  do.     It  is  a  business  which  moral  right  forbids.  ^ 

And  if  you  continue  to  pursue  it,  you  do  it  in  violation  of  that 
moral  obligation  which  binds  you,  as  an  intelligent,  accountable 


429]  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34.  91 

agent,  to  glorify  God,  and  to  do  good,  and  good  only,  as  yon  have 
opportunity,  to  all  men;  and  which  will  hold  you  responsible,  to 
an  endless  retribution,  according  to  your  works. 

And  now  when  the  public  mind  is  settling  down  upon  the  con- 
clusion that  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  is 
immoral;*  and  the  question  is  to  be  decided  whether  it  is,  or  is  not 
to  be  continued;  and  you  are  to  be  one  by  whom  the  decision  is 
to  be  made,  and  made  too  not  merely  for  time  but  for  eternity, 
we  beseech  you,  most  kindly,  and  most  earnestly  beseech  you, 
each  one  who  has  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  furnishing 
ardent  spirit  to  moderate  drinkers,  without  delay  to  renounce  it. 
Cease  any  longer  to  do  evil.  Do  good,  and  good  only,  to  all,  as 
you  have  opportunity,  and  thereby,  good  shall  come  unto  you. 
That  great  deep  into  which  so  many  have  plunged  never  to  rise, 
will  be  dried  up,  and  a  way  be  opened  for  blessings,  in  rich 
variety  and  abundance  to  flow  down  upon  men,  to  all  iuture  ages. 

III.  To  Ministers  of  the  Gospel,  of  every  name,  and 
in  every  country. 

With  great  respect,  and  with  an  affectionate  regard  to  your 
high  and  sacred  office,  we  address  you.  We  view  you  as  ap- 
pointed by  the  God  of  Heaven  to  proclaim  his  will  to  men.  That 
will  is  made  known  in  his  Word,  and  his  works.  These,  as  we 
fully  believe,  and  deeply  feel,  both  show  with  great  clearness, 
that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  the  traffic  in  it,  to  be  used  as  a 
drink,  are  morally  wrong;  a  violation  of  the  divine  law.  Millions 
are  now  groaning,  and  have  long  groaned  under  the  effects  of  this 
violation;  a  sad  memento  to  all  ages,  that  "  the  way  of  transgres- 
sors is  hard." 

We  are,  therefore,  exceedingly  desirous,  as  we  have  no  doubt 
that  the  eternal  destiny  of  multitudes  of  our  fellow  men  will  be 
deeply  affected  by  it,  that  not  only  a  part,  as  is  now  the  case,  a 
large  part,  but  that  the  whole  of  your  number  should  abstain  from 
the  drinking  of  this  poison,  and  from  the  traffic  in  it;  and  should 
also  not  only  be  convinced,  but  should  show  by  your  preaching  and 
practice,  that  you  are  convinced,  that  both  are  a  violation  of  the 
will  of  God;  and  that  regard  to  Him,  to  themselves,  and  the  com- 
munity, require  that  all  men  should  abstain  from  them.  For  this 
purpose  we  most  respectfully  request  you  to  examine  thoroughly 
the  Reports  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  and  such 
other  documents  as  have  been  published  on  this  subject,  with  fer- 
vent prayer  daily,  for  the  guidance  and  blessings  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  And  especially  do  we  entreat  you,  each  one,  to  cease 
entirely  from  the  drinking  of  the  poison,  yourself;  for  if  you  do 

*  Appendix  E. 


92  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    S0CIET7.  [430 

not,  it  will  tend  powerfully  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the 
Heavenly  Messenger,  and  of  the  most  conclusive  reasons.  Men 
must,  on  this  subject,  cease  to  do  evil,  or  they  will  not  be  likely 
to  feel  a  practical  conviction  of  their  obligation  to  do  well.  The 
mocker  has  power,  often,  when  men  are  only  under  its  moderate 
influence,  to  prevent  the  effect,  even  of  demonstration  itself.  And  if 
men  continue  to  tamper  with  it,  only  moderately,  especially  Chris- 
tian men,  and  most  of  all,  ministers  of  the  Gospel,  we  cannot 
expect  that  they  will  ever  view  it  and  treat  it  in  a  proper  manner. 

But  total  abstinence  from  the  use  of  it,  and  all  connection  with 
the  traffic  in  it;  examination  and  the  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
obtained  by  hearty  desire,  fervent  prayer,  and  consistent  conduct, 
have  convinced  thousands,  that  to  drink  it  or  traffic  in  it  is  sinful. 
A  similar  course  would,  as  we  believe,  convince  all.  And  the 
benefits,  which  such  a  conviction,  with  correspondent  preaching 
and  practice,  would  produce,  no  tongue  can  tell.  It  might  be  in- 
strumental in  saving  vast  multitudes  from  perdition. 

A  most  excellent  and  respectable  Doctor  of  Divinity  was  led 
to  look  at  this  subject  in  the  light  of  the  principles  and  facts  ex- 
hibited in  our  Reports.  "  It  is,"  said  he,  "  one  of  the  greatest 
and  most  momentous  subjects  in  the  world.  I  never  viewed  it  in 
that  light  before;  I  will  not  drink  any  more  brandy."  Here  we 
have  a  reason  why  he  had  never  viewed  it  in  that  light  before.  He 
had  drunk  a  little  brandy — a  very  moderate  quantity  after  preach- 
ing; and  had  been,  of  course,  to  a  great  degree,  blind  to  its  na- 
ture and  effects,  long  after  many  of  his  brethren,  who  drank  none, 
had  clearly  seen  them.  He  now  resolved  to  break  off',  and 
renounce  the  poison.  He  uttered  this  resolution.  It  was  heard 
by  a  magistrate,  who  said,  "I  am  glad  to  hear  it,  Doctor.  It 
is  a  resolution  more  important,  perhaps,  than  you  are  aware  of. 

I  was  conversing,  last  week,  with  Major ,  who  you  know  is 

killing  himself  by  drinking  brandy.  I  told  him  that  if  he  did  not 
break  ofF,  entirely,  he  would  soon  be  a  dead  man.  I  pointed  him 
to  his  family,  and  entreated  him  to  give  up  drinking.  He  heard 
me  very  patiently."     "But,"  said  he,  "  there  is   good  Doctor 

■ /'mentioning  the  name   of  this  very  minister,  "he  drinks 

nrandy  ;  and  if  he  drinks  it,  why  may  not  I  ?  "  Here  was  a 
drunkard  going  down  to  death,  who  must  give  up  his  brandy  or 
perish;  and  yet  shielded,  in  his  own  estimation,  from  guilt  in  con- 
tinuing to  drink  it,  because  that  good  Doctor  of  Divinity  drank 
it.  How  many  other  drunkards  have  been  in  the  same  condition, 
the  light  of  eternity  will  disclose.  And  that  light  too  will  show 
how  great  a  share  of  the  guilt  of  their  ruin,  must  eternally  attach 
to  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Nor  is  this  all.  It  is  indeed  but  a 
very  small  part  of  the  mischief.  Many  a  moderate  drinker, 
shielded  from  the  convictions  of  truth  and  the  reproofs  of  con- 


431J  SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  93 

science,  by  the  example  of  ministers,  will  continue  to  drink,  and 
their  hopes  be  blasted  for  ever.  And  many  a  youth,  too,  will 
adopt  the  habit  of  drinking,  become  a  drunkard,  and  go  down  to 
death. 

A  father,  conversing  with  his  own  son,  who  had  become  a 
drunkard,  told  him  that  he  must  break  off  the  use  of  spirit,  en- 
tirely, or  he  would  certainly  die.  The  son  did  not  deny  this 
truth.  "  But,"  said  he,  "you  drink  spirit.  And  if  you  drink 
it,  why  may  not  I?  "  The  father,  or  the  minister  who  means  to 
continue  to  drink,  might  answer,  "  Because  you  drink  too  much. 
I  do  not  take,  or  do  not  mean  to  lake,  any  more  than  does  me  good." 
And  the  drunkard  might  answer,  "No  don't  I.  I  am  as  much 
opposed  to  drinking  too  much,  as  you  are.  But  a  little,  you 
think,  does  good,  and  so  do  I.  That  is  all  I  mean  to  take."  And 
so  he  goes  down  to  death.  Who  must  judge  how  much  makes 
him  feel  better,  if  not  the  man  himself  ? 

Deacon ,  after  hearing  from  his  minister,  a  powerful  ser- 
mon against  drunkards,  said,  "It  is  abominable  to  drink  as  many 
men  do.  To  take  a  little,"  said  he,  as  he  was  stirring  up  his 
glass,  during  the  intermission,  "  I  think  does  a  man  good;  but  to 
drink  so  much  as  some  men  do,  is  abominable.  They  ought  to  be 
preached  against."  What  would  such  a  man  do,  whether  deacon 
or  minister,  in  reclaiming  drunkards?  Nothing.  Who  does  not 
know,  that  drunkards  must  break  off  entirely,  or  it  cannot  be  ex- 
pected that  they  will  ever  be  reclaimed?  And  what  can  the  doc- 
trine, taught  by  precept  or  example,  that  a  little  does  gjod,  do 
towards  reclaiming  them?  Nothing.  It  makes  drunkards,  and 
perpetuates  drunkenness.  If  deacons  and  ministers  drink,  the 
church  members  and  parishioners  will  drink.  Each  one  will 
judge,  in  his  own  case,  how  much  does  him  good  ;  drunken- 
ness will  continue,  and  it  will  continue  to  plunge  its  victims  into 
hopeless  death. 

We  again  beseech  you,  therefore,  to  read,  with  deep  attention, 
our  Reports ;  and  especially  those  parts  of  them  which  show,  the 
fatal  effects  of  even  a  little  ardent  spirit,  in  counteracting  the 
efficacy  of  the  Gospel,  grieving  away  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  ruin- 
ing the  souls  of  men.  And  as  it  is  proved  that  even  a  little,  is, 
and  from  its  nature  ever  must  be,  injurious;  and  that  multitudes,  if 
they  take  a  little,  will  be  led  to  take  much,  we  put  it  to  your  con- 
sciences, in  the  fear  and  love  of  God,  whether  it  is  not  your  duty, 
your  indispensable  duty,  to  abstain  from  it  entirely.  You  cannot, 
in  your  high  and  responsible  station,  teach  the  fatal  heresy,  that  it 
>s  right  to  drink  ardent  spirit,  and  not  do  infinite  mischief. 

"  If  even  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,"  said  a  great  ex- 
emplar of  Christian  ministers,  "  I  will  eat  none  while  the  world 
standeth."  How  much  less,  then,  would  he  take  poison?  After 
33 


94  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [432 

rt  had  been  shown,  by  the  most  conclusive  evidence,  to  be  poison; 
and  proved  by  the  experience  of  millions,  that  men  are  in  all  respects 
better  without  it;  and  that  it  cannot  be  taken  without  leading  mul- 
titudes to  ruin?  How  certain  is  it,  that  he  would  not,  under  such 
circumstances,  take  any  while  the  world  standeth.  Apostolic  in 
principle,  and  millennial  in  effects,  will  be  the  efforts  of  Christen- 
dom, when  all  her  ministers  and  deacons  and  church  members, 
shall  be  governed  in  all  things,  by  the  same  high  and  holy  motives. 

Yours,  Reverend  and  respected  Sirs,  is  the  privilege,  the  honor, 
and,  as  we  most  solemnly  believe,  the  duty  of  setting  this  high  and 
holy  example.  As  captains  of  the  Lord's  hosts,  and  pioneers 
in  the  emancipation  of  the  world,  you  are  bound  to  lead  in  those 
measures  which  are  to  fill  it  with  light,  purity  and  love.  But, 
ah,  should  the  light  which  is  in  you,  be  darkness,  that  darkness 
will  be  very  great;  and  the  consequences,  to  multitudes,  will  be 
overwhelmingly  dreadful. 

But  we  hope  and  expect  better  things,  though  we  thus  speak. 
We  cannot  but  hope  and  expect,  that  you  will  take  such  a  course 
as  not  only  to  be  convinced  that  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit,  and 
the  traffic  in  it,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  are  morally  wrong,  but  that 
you  will  feel  it  to  be  your  duty,  by  preaching  and  practice,  to 
show  this  to  your  people.  And  if  the  truth  on  this  subject  is 
proclaimed  from  the  pulpit,  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  it  will 
be  embraced  by  the  churches.  And  by  walking  in  the  truth,  they 
will  be  sanctified  by  it,  and  they  will  become  free  from  the  guilt, 
under  which  they  have  long  groaned,  of  being  accessory  to  the 
perpetuating  of  intemperance.  They  will  find  the  way  of  truth 
to  be  a  way  of  pleasantness,  and  a  path  of  peace.  And  that 
mighty  obstruction  to  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  being  removed, 
and  the  Gospel  proclaimed  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from 
Heaven,  Zion  will  arise  and  shine,  her  light  being  come,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  will  rest  upon  her. 

IV.  To  the  Members  of  the  Churches  of  Christ,  of 

EVERY    DENOMINATION    THROUGHOUT  THE    WORLD,  we    Would 

also  address  a  few  words. 

The  church,  in  its  character  and  object,  is  but  one.  It  was 
established  by  the  God  of  Heaven,  to  be  on  earth,  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  his  truth.  Its  members  were  designed,  by  their  prin- 
ciples, profession  and  practice,  to  be  the  means  of  extending  the 
knowledge  of  his  truth  to  all  people,  and  perpetuating  it  to  all 
ages.  If  what  is  shown  in  his  word  and  his  works,  to  be  truth,  is 
viewed  and  treated  as  such  by  them,  it  will  be  by  others.  Thus  its 
influence  will  be  extended  and  perpetuated.  They  are  the  divine- 
ly appointed  instruments  for  producing  such  effects.  And  although 
weak  and  insufficient  in  themselves,  through  him  they  are  mighty. 


*^°1  S  EVENT  11    REPORT. —  1834.  ng 

even i  to  the  puling  down  of  the  strongest  holds  of  sin  and  Satan 
and  to  the  rearing  upon  their  ruins  the  kingdom  and  throne  of  tie 
Kedeemer. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  they  view  and  treat  as  m~ral,  what  God 
ms  shown  to  be   unmoral,  it  will,  under  the  full  blaze  cf  reveia 
^on   and  amidst  all  the  splendors  of  Providence,  be  viewed  and 
trecued  as  moral-  by  others.      The  world  will  grope  in  darkness 
and  men  go  down  m  s.n,  to  hopeless  death.     Without  the  exam- 
ples of  members  of  the  church,  we  have  not  the  divin  !    Ipo r - 

ettoits  to  do  it.  Hence,  thp  impcrtanr-e,  and  even  toe  necessity 
if  they  would  comply  with  the  will  of  their  Lord,  oLcS  each 
one,  m  accordance  with  hi,  truth.  It  is  not  eno'ugh  fo  "hem  to 
have  ,„  theory  or  profession  merely,  a  scriptural  creed ■  norTs  U 
enough  that  they  should  have  a  minister  who  in  speculaTon  r» 
the  inculcat.on  of  doctrine,  should  preach  according  to  k 'ig 
must  show  them  also,  from  the  word  and  providence  of  God 
wha tpracHces  are  allowed,  and  what  are  coLeumed  ;  and  ^J 

'i't,    r/    •  G  S  ]°l,,d,  S°Vern  them  in  lheir  devotions,  and  re- 

%.ous  dut.es  merely;  they  must  govern  them  in  their  eatL  and 

ss^^r^ aiid  se,,i^ in  a]i  -  business,::^ 

And  as   the  buying  and  selling  of  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as 
adnnk,  are  manifestly  immoral,  and  have  been  shown  to  be  im 
moral  ;  we  earnestly  beseech  all    members   of   churches    of  all 

Tit     a        7  d°  T>  they  are  not>  on  t!>is  subject,  the  pillar 
or  ground  of  the  truth;  but  of  error;  and  are  instrumental  i/S 
holding,  extending,  and  perpetuating  that  error,  with  alii  s  destruc 
Uve  consequences  to  the  character,6  happiness  and  plJ^Srf 

And  the  fact  that  some  church  members  are  now  speakine  and 

m S-aS0;rn  rafif0  -ln  3rdent  Spir-Jt'  t0  be  -edSfdSSk    i 
moral ,  or  not,  as  it  is  in  truth,  manifestly  immoral    is  o„P  of  thl 

greatest  hindrances  to  the  triumphs  of  temperance     and  one  of  h 

to^eS 

furnishin"  of  £   7  ^g  °f  lhls  Poison'  and  from  the 

turnisning  of  it,  ,n  any  way,  to  be  drunk;  and  do  all  in  his  power, 


96  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [434 

by  the  dissemination  of  information,  and  by  the  exertion  of  a  kind 
persevering  moral  influence,  to  extend  and  perpetuate  this  course 
throughout  the  world. 

To  you,  Beloved  Brethren,  in  so  doing,  we  look,  as  the  means, 
and  to  God  as  the  cause,  with  sure  hope  and  unwavering  expecta- 
tion of  this  mighty  destroyer,  this  aggravated  immorality,  this  foul 
abomination,  and  deep  disgrace,  being  for  ever  done  away. 

The  temperance  reformation,  which  has  scattered  the  darkness 
and  broken  the  slumber  of  ages,  and  is  now  travelling  in  the  great- 
ness of  mercy  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world,  was  begun 
by  the  influence  of  the  Bible.  It  was  undertaken  in  prayer,  and 
for  the  purpose  of  delivering  souls  from  sin  anil  death.  It  was  to 
remove  that  mighty  obstruction  to  the  efficacy  of  the  Redeemer's 
kindness,  which,  while  continued,  will  keep  millions  in  spiritual 
bondage;  and  to  open  the  way  for  the  speedy  and  universal 
triumphs  of  his  grace.  This  it  is,  we  believe,  wl  ch  has  led  Him 
to  favor  it,  and  by  his  mighty  power  to  crown  it  so  extensively 
with  his  blessing.  And  this  it  is,  which  inspires  us  with  the  con- 
tinually growing  expectation,  that  if  his  friends  do  their  duty,  it 
will  never  stop,  till  drunkenness  has  ceased  from  under  heaven. 

To  friends  of  Christ  and  of  man,  therefore,  of  every  name  and 
in  every  place,  we  would  say,  brethren,  go  forward.  Be  strong 
in  the  Lord,  and  in  the  power  of  his  might.  Take  unto  your- 
selves the  whole  armor  of  God.  Pray  with  all  prayer  and  suppli- 
cation in  the  spirit,  and  watch  thereunto  with  all  perseverance. 
Be  not  weary  in  well  doing.  In  due  time  ye  shall  reap  abund- 
antly, if  ye  faint  not.  And  to  Him  who  is  the  author  and  finisher 
of  all  good  works,  and  who  is  able  and  willing  to  do  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask,  or  think,  according  to  the  riches 
of  his  grace  ;  and  to  his  continued  benediction,  we  would  devoutly 
commend  this  great  concern  ;  saying  in  humility,  faith,  and  action, 
"Let  thy  work  appear  unto  thy  servants,  and  thy  glory  unto 
their  children.  And  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God  be  upon 
us  ;  and  establish  thou  the  work  of  our  hands  upon  us  ;  yea,  the 
work  of  our  hands,  establish  thou  it."* 

*  It  was  expected,  when  the  above  Report  was  written,  that  this,  together 
with  the  Appendix,  would  form  Uie  close  of  the  first  volume  of  Permanent 
Temperance  Documents.  But  it  has  since  been  thought  best,  to  add  another 
Report,  "  On  the  nature  of  Alcohol,  the  manner  in  which  it  causes  death,  and 
the  utility,  as  illustrated  by  examples,  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  it;"  to 
which  we  would  invite  the  special  attention  of  the  reader. 


. 


APPENDIX. 


A.     (P.  9.) 

At  the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Congressional  Temperance 
Society  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  February  25th,  1834,  the  gentlemen 
whose  names  are  mentioned,  offered  the  following  resolutions,  which  were 
adopted. 

Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  Temperance  Associations,  formed  on  the  plan  of  entire  absti- 
nence from  the  drinking  and  furnishing  of  ardent  spirit,  in  view  of  the  evils  they 
are  designed  to  suppress  and  to  prevent;  the  means  by  which  they  propose  to 
effect  this  end  ;  the  good  already  accomplished  ;  and  the  beneficent  results 
which  may  be  expected  from  their  future  triumphs,  deserve  to  be  ranked  among 
the  most  useful  and  glorious  institutions  of  the  age,  and  are  eminently  entitled 
to  the  active  support  of  every  patriot  and  philanthropist. 

Hon.  William  Hendricks,  Senator  from  Indiana. 

Resolved,  That  we  view  with  lively  interest  the  formation  of  Legislative 
Temperance  Societies,  and  hope  that  the  time  is  not  distant,  when  such  a 
Society  will  be  formed,  and  will  number  among  its  members  all  Legislators,  in 
each  State  throughout  the  Union. 

Hon.  Henry  L.  Pinckney,  Member  of  Congress  from  South  Carolina. 

Resolved,  That  the  abolition  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  in  the  Army,  is  highly 
auspicious  to  the  oreat  interests  of  our  country  ;  and  that  its  abolition  through- 
out the  Navy,  while  it  would  increase  the  health,  the  respectability  and  the 
happiness  of  the  seamen,  would  also  tend  greatly  to  strengthen  the  arm  of 
national  defence. 

Hon.  George  Grennell,  Jr.,  Member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  literary  men,  and  men  in  public  life  are  under  peculiar  obli- 
gations to  promote  the  cause  of  Temperance,  and  that  it  be  recommended  that 
Temperance  Societies  be  formed  in  all  literary  and  scientific  institutions 
throughout  the  country. 

Hon.  Arnold  Naudain,  Senator  from  Delaware. 

Resolved,  That  the  abandonment  of  the  sale  and  use  of  ardent  spirit  in 
Hteamboats,  public  houses  and  groceries,  is  highly  conducive  to  the  public  good; 
and  that  the  frirnds  of  human  happiness,  by  encouraging,  in  all  suitable  ways, 
such  establishments  as  have  adopted  this  course,  will  perform  an  important 
service  to  the  community. 

Hon.  Daniel  \\  ardwell,  Member  of  Congress  from  New  York. 

Resolved,  That  as  the  universal  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  virtue  is  essentia! 
to  the  purity  and  permanence  of  free  institutions,  we  recommend  to  all  friends 
of  their  country,  to  supply  themselves  with  some  Temperance  publication  ;  and 
in  all  suitable  ways  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  facts  on  this  important 
subject,  as  extensively  as  possible. 

Hon.  Samuel  Bell,  Senator  from  New  Hampshire. 

Resolved,  That  essential  aid  has  been  given  to  the  cause  of  Temperance,  by 
the  united  example  and  energetic  action  of  young  men  ;  and  should  it  enlist  in 
its  favor  the  whole  of  that  interesting  class  of  our  fellow  citizens,  its  blessings 
would  be  extended  not  only  throughout  our  land,  but  we  might  hope,  through- 
out the  earth. 

Hon.  Harrner  Denny,  Member  of  Congress  from  Pennsylvania. 

Resolved,  That  the  adoption  of  the  principle  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit,  by  the  superintendents  of  manufactories  and  public  works  ;  the 
proprietors  of  railroads,  steamboats,  stages,  &c.  with  regard  to  all  in  their 
employment,  while  it  would  increase  the  value  of  their  services,  would  add 
greatly  to  their  comfort,  as  well  as  to  the  convenience  and  safety  of  the  public. 

33* 


441] 


SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834.  APPENDIX.       103 


Dr.  Edwards,  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Temperance  Society. 

Resolved,  That  the  effect  of  American  example  and  effort,  in  the  promotion 
of  Temperance  in  foreign  countries,  ought  to  inspire  us  with  a  high  sense  of  out 
obligations  to  the  Author  of  all  good  ;  and  encourage  us  to  make  new,  and  ever 
growing  exertions  to  become  still  more  eminently  benefactors,  not  only  of  our 
own  country,  but  of  the  world. 

Hon.  Felix  Grundy,  Senator  from  Tennessee. 

Resolved,  That  the  practice  of  not  using  ardent  spirits,  at  the  celebration  of 
the  4th  of  July,  the  great  day  of  American  liberty,  is  truly  republican  ;  and  tends 
to  prevent  that  corruption  of  public  morals,  which  is  the  deadliest  foe  to  the 
prosperity  of  our  country. 

Hon.  George  N.  Brigjjs,  Member  of  Congress  from  Massachusetts. 

Resolved,  That  the  influence  of  Temperance  on  the  intellectual  improvement, 
the  moral  purity,  the  social  enjoyment,  the  civil  prospects,  and  the  eternal 
destinies  of  man,  is  such  as  ought  to  secure  for  it  the  united  example  and  the 
active,  persevering  exertion  of  all  the  Christian  and  patriotic,  the  philanthropic 
and  humane  throughout  the  world. 

Hon.  Tlreodore  Frelinghuysen,  Senator  from  New  Jersey. 

Resolved,  That  the  influence  of  woman,  is  essential  to  the  triumph  of  every 
great  and  good  cause  }  and  should  that  influence  which  God  has  graciously 
given  her,  be  universally,  and  perseveringly  exerted  in  favor  of  the  Temperance 
reformation,  its  triumphs  would  be  certain  and  complete;  and  its  blessings, 
while  richly  enjoyed  by  herself,  and  those  whom  she  loves,  would  be  extended 
vo  all  people,  and  perpetuated  to  all  ages. 


B.     (P.  9.) 

Extracts  from  the  Address  of  Hon.  Benjamin  F.  Butler. 

The  great  objects  of  the  Temperance  reform  are  so  patriotic,  benevolent  and 
useful,  and  the  leading  means  by  which  they  are  proposed  to  be  effected,  so 
just  in  themselves,  that  I  feel  no  apprehension  as  to  the  ultimate  result.  But  to 
ensure  a  speedy  growth,  and  an  abundant  harvest,  even  to  the  seeds  of  truth, 
they  must  ever  tie  scattered  by  the  hand  of  love.  To  every  laborer  in  this  field 
of  duty,  I  would  therefore,  say,  in  the  language  of  inspired  wisdom — "  Let  not 
MERCY  and  truth  forsake  thee  :  bind  them  about  thy  neck  :  write  them  upon 
the  table  of  thine  heart ;  so  shalt  thou  find  favor  aud  good  success  in  tlie  sight 
of  God  and  man  !" 

And  now,  sir,  in  view  of  all  that  has  been  said,  I  submit  it  to  the  enlightened 
judgments  of  those  who  hear  me,  whether  the  Temperance  Associations,  in 
the  "language  of  this  resolution,  do  not  "  deserve  to  be  ranked  among  the  most 
useful  amfglorious  institutions  of  the  age?"  Whether  they  do  not  really 
deserve  the  approbation — the  active  support — of  every  lover  of  his  country  and 
his  kind  ?  If  there  be  anv  present,  who  have  not  yet  given  to  this  effort  their 
approbation  and  support,  "let  me  respectfully  conjure  them,  by  all  the  ties  that 
bind  them  to  this  blessed  land — by  all  the  endearments  that  encircle  the 
domestic  hearth — by  all  they  possess,  or  love,  or  hope  for — no  longer  to  give  to 
folly,  vice,  and  crime,  the  support  of  their  example.  If  they  do  not  see  it  to  be 
their  duty  to  enrol  themselves  publicly,  under  our  banners,  let  them  at  least 
abandon  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors,  and  cease  hereafter  to  furnish  tliem  to 
others,  or  to  encourage  those  who  are  engaged  in  doing  so.  Me  thinks,  to  every 
reflecting  and  benevolent  mind,  this  little  self-denial— I  will  not  dignify  it  with 
the  name  of  sacrifice— this  little  self-denial  would  be  but  the  merest  trifle,  when 
p,it  in  competition  with  the  good  which  even  a  silent  example  of  abstinence,  may 
effect.  Think,  sir.  of  the  blessings  you  confer,  when  you  save  but  one  man  from 
the  drunkard's  life,  the  drunkard's  death,  and  the  drunkard's  retribution  !  You 
raise  from  the  degradation  to  which  it  would  otherwise  have  sunk,  and  you 
restore  to  its  appropi  iate  rank  in  the  scale  of  being,  au  immortal  mind — an  mnana- 


104  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [442 

tion  of  the  Deity  '  It  may  be  he  is  a  son — and  then  you  give  new  life  to  the  parents 
whose  gray  hairs  would  else  "  have  been  brought  down  with  sorrow  to  the 
grave  !  "  Or  he  is  a  husband — and  then  you  impart  hope  and  happiness  to  the 
deserted  female,  who,  in  the  confidence  of  youthful  l«>ve  united  her  destiny  with 
his !  Or  he  is  a  father — and  then  the  little  band  whom  you  have  rescued  from 
anticipated  orphanage,  will  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed  !  Or  he  may  unite  in 
himself  all  these  relations,  and  then  you  open  in  numerous  hearts,  new  and 
unlooked  for  sources  of  delight!  Or  to  some  one  or  all  of  them,  he  may  add 
the  gifts  of  genius  and  the  accomplishments  of  learning — he  may  have  been 
endowed  with  powers  of  the  highest  order,  and  ere  he  gave  way  to  brutal 
appetite,  he  may  have  adorned  the  sacied  desk,  the  senate  or  the  bar ;  and  then 
you  replace  a  fallen  luminary  in  its  native  sphere,  and  you  diifuse,  through  an 
extended  system,  light,  and  fife,  and  joy  !  But  our  aim  is  not  to  save  one,  nor 
fifty,  but  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  from  the  drunkard's  fate  !  To  save 
our  friends,  our  brethren,  and  ourselves,  our  children,  and  our  children's 
children,  our  country  and  the  world  !  Shall  we  not,  one  and  all — henceforth  and 
for  ever — deem  it,  not  merely  a  duty,  but  happiness  and  honor,  to  be  fellow 
laborers  in  a  work,  so  benevolent  and  sublime  ? 


Extract  from  the  Address  of  the  Hon.  Henry  L.  Pinckney. 

Sir,  what  has  been  the  cause  of  the  vice  and  crime — the  mutiny  and  insub- 
ordination— the  tumults  and  desertions — the  disgraces  and  punishments — that 
have  occurred  in  the  American  army  or  the  navy  ?  They  may  be  traced, 
unquestionably ,  to  the  great  error  of  the  government,  in  having  encouraged,  if  not 
in  having  actually  produced,  habits  of  intoxication  among  those,  in  whom,  it 
was  not  only  its  true  policy,  but  its  positive  duty,  to  inculcate  principles  of  tem- 
perance, subordination,  and  decorum.  I  have  understood,  however,  and  1  have 
learnt  it  with  very  great  pleasure,  that  the  practice  of  paying  our  soldiers  with 
ardent  spirits  has  been,  within  the  last  year,  very  extensively,  if  not  thoroughly, 
reformed.  For  this  valuable  improvement,  in  that  branch  of  the  public  service, 
we  are  indebted  to  the  distinguished  officer,  Mr.  Cass,  who  is  now  at  the  head 
of  the  war  department.  Sir,  he  deserves,  and  should  receive,  the  thanks  of  the 
army  and  of  the  country  for  having  conceived  and  executed  this  important 
reformation  :  and  it  is  a  source  of  great  gratification  to  me,  that  whilst  in  him 
we  have  an  able  and  efficient  advocate  of  Temperance,  so  in  the  amiable  and 
estimable  gentleman,  Mr.  Butler,  who  now  holds  the  office  of  Attorney  General, 
we  have  an  ardent  and  enlightened  supporter  of  all  those  great  enterprises 
which  have  for  their  object  the  moral  and  religious  renovation  of  society.  I 
have  understood,  also,  that  the  abolition  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  in  the  army 
has  met  with  the  cordial  approbation  and  concurrence  of  both  officers  and  men  : 
that,  as  regards  the  latter,  it  has  effected  a  decided  improvement  in  their  charac- 
ters and  conduct :  that  misbehavior  and  indecorum  now  occur  but  seldom,  com- 
paratively speaking,  and  that  the  crime  of  desertion  is  almost  totally  unknown. 
And  if  such  have  been  the  happy  effects  of  this  valuable  improvement  as 
regards  the  army,  why  has  it  not  been  extended  to  the  Navy  ?  Why  is  the  use 
of  intoxicating  liquors  still  required,  by  law,  in  those  who  bear  our  flag  upon  the 
mountain  wave  ?  Why  does  such  a  law  still  disgrace  our  statute  book?  Why 
should  not  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  be  authorised  by  Congress  to  imitate,  in 
his  department,  and  to  the  same  extent,  the  reform  that  has  been  effected  in  the 
military  branch?  Is  there  any  thing  in  the  naval,  more  than  in  the  military 
service,  that  renders  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  necessary  or  expedient?  Certainly 
this  will  not  be  pretended.  Experiments  have  been  made  of  the  Temperance 
plan,  and  on  very  long  voyages  too,  and  have  succeeded  admirably  well,  and  to 
the  perfect  satisfaction  of  both  officers  and  men.  Numerous  merchant  vessels 
now  navigate  the  ocean  on  the  principle  of  Temperance,  and  experience  has 
proved  that  it  contributes  unspeakably,  not  only  to  the  harmony  and  good  order, 
but  to  the  positive  healthiness  and  comfort  and  efficiency  of  the  crews.  Why 
then  should  it  not  be  established  in  the  navy  ? 

Let  the  experiment  only  be  made  in  the  navy,  and  we  shall  soon  be  amply 
rewarded  for  having  made  it,  not  only  in  the  success  of  the  effort  itself,  but  in 
the  gratitude  and  approbation  of  the  seamen.  Let  us  then  endeavor,  by  the 
adoption  of  the  resolution  before  you,  to  attract  the  attention  of  Congress  to  this 


443] 


SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34. APPENDIX.        f0& 


subject.  Let  us  hope  that  the  department  may  be  authorised  by  law  to  abolish 
the  distribution  of  ardent  spirits  in  the  Navy.  What  possible  objection  can  Con- 
gress have  to  gratifying,  in  this  particular,  the  reasonable  wishes  of  a  very  larue 
portion  of  our  citizens  ?  Why,  when  Temperance  is  going  on  so  triumphantly 
on  land — spreading  its  benign  and  meliorating  influence  through  all  our  town9 
and  villages — and  particularly  when  it  has  been  introduced,  and  has  so  happily 
succeeded  in  our  army — why  should  the  practice  of  paying  men  with  that  which 
destroys  their  characters,  their  bodies  and  their  souls,  be  still  continued  in  the 
Navy?  Why  should  our  seamen  still  be  made  intemperate  bylaw?  Why, 
when  every  other  class  is  reforming  and  improving,  should  they  still  be  tempted 
and  encouraged  to  ebriety  and  vice  ?  Is  it  the  policy  of  the  government  to 
make  them  drunkards?  Or  have  they  done  anything  to  deserve  that  they 
should  still  be  paid  with  poison,  whilst  all  other  public  servants  are  paid  in 
money,  or  in  wholesome  and  nutritious  food  ?  Have  they  no  characters  to  lose  ; 
No  principles  worth  improving?  Or  no  feelings  or  motives  which  an  enlight- 
ened government  should  cultivate  ?  Above  all,  have  they  no  families  to  provide 
for, — or  no  souls  to  save  ?  Sir,  it  is  high  time  this  foul  stain  were  erased  from 
the  escutcheon  of  our  Navy. 


C.      (P.  17.) 

Part  of  a  Letter  from  Gf.rrit  Smith,  Esq.,  to  the  Chairman  of  Che  Executive 

Committee  of  the  New  York  Stale  Temperance  Society. 

The  following  narrative  exhibits  important  changes,  that  have  taken  place  in> 
most  of  the  drunkards,  who  resided  in  our  village,  and  within  two  or  three 
miles  of  it.  There  are  within  the  same  limits  a  dozen  or  fifteen  otheT  persons 
who  still  remain  intemperate  :  and,  unless  their  sober  neighbors  who  have  not 
yet  subscribed  the  pledge  to  total  abstinence,  hasten  to  do  s6,  and  to  put  away 
the  snare  of  their  example,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear,  that  a  part,  if  not  ail. 
of  these  persons,  will  go  to  their  graves  and  to  the  judgment  seat,  in  their 
present  character. 

No.  1.  Upwards  of  40  years  of  age.  Was  frequently  intoxicated,  until  the 
last  two  or  three  years.  When  so, lie  was  apt  to  be  wild  and  quixotic  in  his 
conduct,  and  to  involve  himself  in  difficulties,  from  which  he  was  not  always 
extricated  without  a  considerable  loss  of  money  and  time.  He  became  quite 
poor.  His  large  family  were  frequently  in  need  of  the  comforts  of  life.  He 
is  now  one  of  our  most  industrious,  thriving  and  respectable  farmers.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  Temperance  Society,  and  a  highly  esteemed  member  of  the 
church. 

No.  2.  Upwards  of  30  years  of  age.  Was  for  several  years  very  intempe- 
rate. When  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  he  occasionally  exhibited  a  pro- 
pensity to  crime,  which  wellnigh  involved  him  in  utter  ruin.  He  became 
very  poor,  and  neglected  to  provide  for  his  wife  and  children.  Often,  when  in 
his  drinking  moods,  absented  himself  from  his  home  for  days  together,  wan- 
dering about  like  a  maniac.  He  has  been  a  consistent  member  of  the  Tempe- 
rance Societ}',  about  two  years.  Happily,  he  dreads  cider,  as  he  dreads  rum; 
and  when,  a  few  weeks  since,  it  was  proposed  by  some  of  hie  fellow  laborers 
to  have  cider  brought  into  the  harvest  field,  he  exclaimed  quickly :  "  Not  one 
drop,  not  one  drop."  He  feels  himself  to  be  "  a  brand  plueked  from  the  burn- 
ing," and  which  a  single  spark  may  be  sufficient  to  ignite.  He  is  now  an 
industrious,  respectable,  money-making  farmer. 

No.  3.  About  50  years  of  age.  The  gradations  of  moderate  drinking,  of 
tippling,  and  of  hard  drinking  have  been  observable  in  his  case,  as  in  the 
cases  of  most  drunkards.  He  became  exceedingly  poor.  His  very  numerous 
family  suffered  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  Such  of  his  children,  as  are  grown 
up,  are  very  ignorant;  and,  I  believe,  some  of  them  can  neither  read  nor 
write.     Seven  or  eight  months  ago,  he  subscribed  the  pledge  of  total  absti- 


106  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY-  [444 

nence  ;  and,  at  his  own  solicitation,  and  with  the  full  consent  of  those  of  them, 
who  were  of  sufficient  age  to  give  it,  the  names  of  all  the  members  of  his  fami- 
ly, not  excepting  the  infant  child,  were  added  to  the  same  talisinanic  instrument. 
He  is  now  cheerful  and  light-hearted  :  loves  his  family,  and  provides  well  for 
them  :  and  he  cannot  fail  to  see,  that  he  is  greatly  respected  by  his  neighbors. 
An  incident  must  be  related  here.  The  nearest  neighbor  of  No.  3,  at  that  time, 
was  a  deacon — and  a  respectable  good  man  he  is.  But,  being  rather  credulous, 
the  stories  about  church  and  slate  and  other  bugbears,  of  which  the  invention 
of  artful  demagogues  is  so  prolific,  had  deterred  him  from  joining  the  Tempe- 
rance Society.  No.  3  feeling,  as  is  very  natural,  a  great  desire  to  strengthen 
the  party  to  which  he  and  his  family  had  recently  acceded,  and  feeling,  doubt- 
less, that  he  should  be  strong  in  his  new  faith  and  steadfast  in  his  sobriety, 
somewhat  in  proportion  as  the  Temperance  party  should  be  numerous  and 
respectable,  hurried  with  the  pledge,  as  soon  as  the  names  of  his  family  were 
put  to  it,  to  the  good  deacon  for  his  name  The  application  was  unquestiona- 
bly very  trying  to  the  deacon.  The  conflict  of  his  emotions  may  well  be  im- 
agined. Here  stood  before  him  a  man,  who  but  yesterday  was  a  drunkard,  and 
who  was  now  imploring  the  aid  of  the  deacon's  name  towards  confirming  the 
good  resolutions  which  he  had  just  been  making.  Humanity — his  religion — 
not  to  speak  of  his  ecclesiastical  office — urged  the  deacon  to  give  his  name 
promptly.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  may  have  had  some  lingering  notions, 
that  this  scheme  of  making  all  men  sober  would,  in  the  event  of  its  complete 
success,  unite  church  and  slate.  There  was  too  the  pride  of  opinion  and  con- 
sistency rising  up  strongly  in  his  breast;  for  even  Christians  are  subject  to  this 
miserable  and  wicked  pride.  He  had  joined  in  the  common  talk  against  the 
society  :  had  often  refused  to  belong  to  it ;  and,  now  to  give  his  name,  at  the 
solicitation  of  a  drunkard  ! — a  deacon  to  take  lessons  in  ethics  from  the  lips  of  a 
drunkard  ! — this  was  too  humiliating!  He  refused  to  sign  ;  but  said  that  they 
were  about  to  get  up  a  Temperance  Society  in  the  church  he  belonged  to,  and 
he  would  sign  there.  The  church  Temperance  Society,  however,  has  never 
been  formed ;  and  the  deacon's  influence,  in  respect  to  Temperance,  remains 
where  Jesus  Christ  tells  him  it  should  not  be. 

No.  4.  Is  about  55  years  of  age  :  was  for  many  years  a  loathsome  drunk- 
ard ;  spent  his  earnings  in  filling  his  whiskey  bottle  ;  and  left  his  family  to  suf- 
fer for  clothing,  food  and  medicine.  Some  three  years  ago  the  Angel  of 
Mercy  was  sent  to  his  rescue,  and  he  was  reclaimed  to  soberness  and  to  God, 
apparently  without  the  aid  of  human  instrumentality.  He  and  other  members 
of  his  family  soon  after  made  a  public  profession  of  religion,  which  they  have 
honored  to  this  day  with  sober  and  godly  lives.  Of  course  he  is  a  member 
of  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  5.  Upwards  of  30  years  of  age  :  was  intemperate  for  several  years. 
Nearly  a  year  ago,  he  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  and  has  been  sober  and 
industrious  ever  since.  Drunkenness  kept  him  very  poor  :  but  his  family  are 
now  comfortably  supplied.  During  his  abstinence  from  ardent  spirit,  he  has 
frequently  been  in  the  sanctuary.  1  very  rarely,  if  ever,  saw  him  there  before. 
It  is  said,  that  he  sometimes  drinks  cider;  and  those  of  us,  whose  abundant 
observation  on  this  point  assures  us,  that  the  reclaimed  drunkard,  who  takes  to 
cider  and  strong  beer,  will  by  the  use  of  these  drinks,  revive  and  maintain  his 
appetite  for  ardent  spirit,  and  be  liable  also  to  intoxication  upon  these  drinks 
themselves,  are  very  apprehensive  that  he  will  fall. 

No.  6.  About  30  years  of  age,  and  has  a  family.  Some  six  months  ago, 
he  discontinued  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  joined  the  Temperance  Society. 
Has  recently  drank  to  intoxication.  Never  forsook  his  evil  companions.  His 
poor  deluded  father,  who  is  a  professor  of  religion  and  opposes  the  Temperance 
reformation,  is  greatly,  perhaps  fatally,  in  the  way  of  the  recovery  of  his  son. 
I  this  day  had  a  conversation  with  the  brother  of  No.  6.  He  thinks  No.  6  will 
drink  no  more  ardent  spirit. 

No.  7.  About  40  years  of  age,  and  has  a  family.  Has  more  than  a  common 
education.  For  many  years  a  loathsome  drunkard.  I  have  seen  him  lying  in 
the  street  so  drunk,  as  to  be  entirely  insensible  to  his  condition.  Became  mis- 
erably poor.  About  two  years  since,  relinquished  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and 
joined  the  Temperance  Society  and  church.     With  the  exception  of  one  week 


445]       SEVENTH  REPORT. — 1834. APPENDIX.       J  07 

in  these  two  years,  he  has  appeared  well  the  whole  time.  During  that  week 
he  was  so  irLprudent  and,  I  may  add,  so  sinful,  as  to  go  unnecessarily  into  that 
only  house  in  our  village,  where  the  poison  is  vended.  He  drank  strong  beer 
there,  until  he  became  intoxicated.  It  was  suspected,  that  his  fellow  drinkera 
mingled  spirituous  liquor  with  the  beer,  that  they  might,  in  the  fall  of  the  poor 
man,  have  an  occasion  for  exulting  over  the  Temperance  cause.  His  fit  of 
drunkenness  lasted  several  days  ;  but  when  he  recovered  from  it,  he  manifested 
the  penitence  of  a  child  of  God,  and  abjured  even  cider  and  beer  for  ever. 

No.  8.  Is  Elder  Truman  Beeman.  I  mention  his  name,  because  he  has 
given  me  liberty  to  do  so  :  and  because  the  mention  of  it  will,  in  the  many 
parts  of  New  England  and  this  state,  where  he  is  known,  increase  the  inter- 
est in  the  account  I  give  of  him.  He  is  about  73  years  of  age  ;  and,  though 
his  body  is  feeble,  his  superior  mind  remains  perfectly  sound.  From  twenty 
to  thirty  years  he  was  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel.  A  portion  of  that  time,  he 
resided  in  Rensselaerville  and  Katskill  in  this  state.  He  removed  to  this 
village  upwards  of  twenty  years  ago.  He  was  fond  of  liquor  then,  and 
had  left  the  ministry  shortly  before.  Soon  he  became  a  drunkard  and  a 
gambler  ;  and  the  lips  which  had  taught  others  the  way  of  truth  and  life, 
were  now  eminently  profane  and  obscene.  No  other  man  amongst  us  has 
ever  done  half  so  much  to  corrupt  our  youth,  as  Elder  Beeman  has  done. 
His  wit  and  remarkably  ready  talent  at  rhyming  were  his  most  powerful  aux- 
iliaries in  this  work.  He  became  very  poor,  after  having  possessed  a  handsome 
property,  and,  but  for  the  industry  and  good  management  of  his  wife,  they 
would  both  have  suffered  the  want  of  food  and  clothing.  It  was  observed  sev- 
eral years  ago,  that  the  Elder's  habits  were  improving  under  the  general  reform- 
ation, that  was  going  on  amongst  us.  But  never,  until  a  year  ago,  did  he  come 
to  the  resolution  to  abstain  entirely  and  for  ever  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit. 
Early  in  the  winter,  he  attended  a  Temperance  meeting,  which  was  addressed 
by  Mr.  Turner,  the  agent  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  and 
there  joined  the  Society.  From  that  day  to  this,  he  has  not  tasted  the  poison, 
and,  I  believe,  that  the  offer  of  a  world  would  be  insufficient  to  bribe  him  to 
taste  it.  Last  winter  he  received  from  the  War  Department  the  welcome  news, 
that  his  name  was  placed  upon  the  pension  list,  and  that  he  was  entitled  to  one 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars  back  pay.  His  old  companions  now  flocked  around 
him  for  a  treat.  They  trusted,  that  the  Elder's  temperance  was  not  yet  firm 
enough  to  withstand  so  great  and  sudden  prosperity.  They  had,  perhaps,  flat- 
tered themselves,  that  his  temperance  was  owing,  in  a  measure,  to  his  inability 
to  purchase  liquor.  But  they  were  disappointed.  They  found  him  to  be  an 
incorrigible  cold  water  man.  The  Elder  went  to  work  in  paying  his  debts  and 
supplying  his  family  with  comforts  ;  and  left  his  old  companions  to  purchase  the 
whiskey  they  would  have  begged  from  him.  I  have  often  visited  the  old  gen- 
tleman, within  the  last  year.  Not  only  is  he  sober;  but,  it  can  be  said  of  him, 
as  it  was  of  Paul  :  "  Behold  he  prayeth."  This  old  and  exceeding  sinner — 
this  wonderful  monument  of  the  patience  of  God — n  >w  sits  "  at  the  feet  of 
Jesus,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind."  Harmony  has  taken  the  place  of  discord 
in  his  family  ;  and  that  aged  breast,  which,  for  twenty  years,  was  agitated  with 
the  untold  horrors  of  the  drunkard,  is  now  the  abode  of  "  quietness  and  assu- 
rance for  ever."  The  Elder's  religion  is  of  such  a  character,  that  he  prefers  the 
Bible  to  all  other  books,  and  spends  a  large  share  of  his  time  in  reading  it. 
His  change  is  well  worth  all  the  Temperance  efforts  that  have  been  made  in 
Peterboro'. 

No.  9.  Upwards  of  50  years  of  age.  Has  long  been  an  inhabitant  of  the 
town.  Has  an  excellent  family.  Was  for  a  long  time  a  moderate  daily  drink- 
er— next  a  tippler — and  thence,  by  quick  march,  a  full  grown  drunkard.  Lost 
his  health  and  respectability,  and  ceased  to  increase  his  property.  About  two 
years  since  he  quit  his  cups;  his  health  and  character  are  already  restored,  and 
peace  and  cheerfulness,  long  banished  from  it.  are  now  returned  to  his  dwelling. 
He  has  not  yet  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  though  he  attends  its  meetings. 
I  saw  him  angry,  the  other  day.  The  alarming  thought  came  into  my  mind, 
that  he  had  been  drinking  cider.  I  remembered  the  saying  among  the  Jersey 
women,  that  cider  drunkards  are  crosser  husbands  than  other  drunkards.  I  hope, 
however,  that  he  does  not  drink  cider. 


108  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [446 

No.  10.  About  50  years  old.  Has  lived  in  town  but  a  couple  of  years.  Was 
very  in'emperate  when  he  came  here,  and  poor.  Has  a  good  family.  His  re- 
moval into  this  Temperance  atmosphere  was  most  happy  for  him  ;  for  he  had 
not  been  here  long,  before  he  joined  the  Temperance  Society.  He  has  contin- 
ued ever  since  his  connection  with  the  Society  to  be  a  sober  and  respectable 
man.     He  has  recently  manifested  a  hope  in  Christ. 

No.  II.  An  old  man.  Had  been  intemperate  for  many  years.  Very  poor 
Connected  himself  with  the  church,  two  or  three  years  since;  and  has  been 
sober  from  that  time.  Demagogues  have  made  him  believe,  that  the  Temperance 
reformation  is  but  a  scheme  to  abridge  men  of  their  political  rights,  and  there- 
fore, (though  possibly  a  lingering  and  secretly  indulged  love  of  rum  has  some- 
thing to  do  with  it.)  he  cannot  join  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  12.  A  colored  man,  about  30  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Was  a  very 
great  drunkard,  and  very  poor.  For  the  last  three  or  four  years,  he  has  wholly 
abstained  from  ardent  spirit.  About  a  year  since  he  drank  freely  of  cider  on  a 
festival  occasion,  and  probably  became  somewhat  intoxicated.  He  then  resolv- 
ed, that  he  would  never  again  taste  of  any  intoxicating  liquor  whatever.  He  is 
a  lovely  Christian  of  remarkable  tenderness  of  conscience,  and  of  course  belongs 
to  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  13.  An  old  person.  Intemperate  for  many  years.  Has  been  sober  for 
the  last  two  or  three  years.  Now  a  member  of  the  church,  and  probably  would 
be  of  the  Temperance  Society,  if  a  certain  near  relative  would  be,  on  whom 
No.  13  is  dependent. 

No.  14.  About  30  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Had  been  intemperate  for 
several  years;  and,  therefore,  could  not  preserve  his  earnings.  Some  three 
years  ago,  he  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  and  has  ever  since  lived  up  to 
its  requirements.  He  is  now  an  industrious  and  respectable  man.  Much  of 
the  time  during  his  abstinence  from  ardent  spirit,  he  has  been  religiously 
minded. 

No.  15.  About  40  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Was  a  miserable  sot,  and 
very  poor.  For  the  last  three  or  four  years,  he  has  abstained  from  ardent  spirit, 
and  has,  during  that  time,  been  a  consistent  and  beloved  member  of  the  church 
of  Christ.  1  scarcely  need  add,  that  such  a  member  of  the  church  is  also  a 
member  of  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  1G.  About  60  years  of  age.  Had  been  for  twenty  or  thirty  years  one  of 
the  greatest  drunkards  in  town.  Was  very  poor,  and  a  brute  in  his  family 
when  drunk.  Has  trained  up  several  sons  to  drunkenness.  Nearly  a  year  ago 
he  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  and  has  remained  sober  ever  since,  one  oc- 
casion perhaps  excepted.  I  fear  he  drinks  cider,  and  if  he  does  he  will  probably 
soon  relapse  into  drunkenness. 

No.  17.  About  50  years  of  age,  with  a  large  and  intelligent  family.  Had 
been  intemperate  for  many  years  and  became  very  poor.  Three  or  four  years 
ago  he  joined  the  church  and  the  Temperance  Society,  and  has  ever  since  been 
a  sober  man  and  a  decided  Christian. 

No.  18.  Was  a  great  drunkard,  and  was  very  poor.  Joined  the  Temperance 
Society  a  year  or  two  since.  Had  a  long  drunken  frolic  last  winter.  I  know 
little  about  him. 

No.  19.  Was  a  great  drunkard.  Now  a  member  of  the  Temperance  So- 
ciety, and  a  respectable  professor  of  religion.  Has  as  much  fear  of  cider  and 
strong  beer,  as  of  rum. 

No.  20.  About  60  years  of  age,  with  a  family,  and  poor.  I  believe  he  has 
not  used  ardent  spirit  for  months.  Was  formerly  intemperate.  I  know  but 
little  of  him. 

No.  21.  About  50  years  of  age,  with  a  large  family.  Had  been  intemperate 
long  enough  to  waste  the  considerable  property  he  had  accumulated  in  the 
early  part  of  his  life.  Last  winter  he  bound  himself  in  writing  to  abstain  from 
ardent  spirit.  The  person  who  wrote  the  instrument,  begged  him  very  long 
and  earnestly  to  suffer  the  prohibition  to  extend  to  cider  also.  But  the  nnhappy 
man  could  not  consent  to  it.  He  laughed  at  the  charge  of  danger  in  a  drink  of 
cider.  It  turned  out,  as  the  writer  feared.  He  made  cider  his  substitute  for 
ardent  spirit ;  and  he  now  drinks  ardent  spirit  perhaps  as  freely  as  ever.  Many 
a  heart  bleeds  for  his  meek  and  pious  wife. 


447] 


SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834. APPENDIX.        109 


No.  22.  About  CO  years  of  age,  with  a  large  family.  Had  long  been  very 
drunken  and  very  poor.  About  two  years  since  he  relinquished  the  use  ot 
ardent  spirit.  He  was  persuaded  to  attend  the  election  last  fall,  and  some  dem- 
agogues, to  control  his  vote,  got  him  to  drink.  One  of  his  respectable  children 
told  me  that  his  father  had  not  drank  any  ardent  spirit  before  for  a  year.  Had 
the  poor  father  been  a  member  of  the  Temperance  Society,  the  tempting  glass 
and  the  importunities  of  the  designing  might  not  have  overcome  him.  I  hope 
he  does  not  use  ardent  spirit  now. 

No.  23.  Seventy  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Had  long  been  a  very  great 
drunkard.  Now  abstains  from  ardent  spirit.  But  it  is  said  drinks  to  intoxica- 
tion of  cider,  which  a  professor  of  religion  is  ignorant  or  unprincipled  enough 
to  sell  him.  Has  not  joined  the  Temperance  Society.  One  of  his  neighbors, 
who  has  great  influence  over  him,  talks  much  of  church  and  state. 

No.  24.  Lives  a  little  out  of  the  territory,  to  which  1  have  confined  my  ex- 
aminations. Was  a  great  drunkard — but  has  been,  for  some  time,  a  consistent 
member  of  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  25.  Lives  near  No.  24.  Was  quite  intemperate.  Has  recently  joined 
the  Temperance  Society,  and  appears  very  well. 

No.  20.  Was  a  drunkard,  until  the  last  three  or  four  year3.  From  that  time, 
until  his  death,  nearly  a  year  ago,  was  a  sober  man  and  interesting  Christian. 
He  was  about  60  years  old,  at  his  death.  The  cry  that  is  often  raised  to  justify 
our  neglect  of  the  drunkard,  and  to  discourage  our  efforts  for  his  recovery  is, 
that  the  reformed  drunkard  will  go  back.  That  cry  is  signally  rebuked  and 
falsified  in  the  case  of  No.  26 ;  for  instead  of  going  back,  he  has  gone  to 
Heaven. 

No.  27.  About  45  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Was  very  poor  and  drunken. 
1  am  informed,  that  he  has  abstained  entirely  from  ardent  spirit,  for  the  last 
seven  or  eight  months,  and  is  pious. 

No.  28.  About  forty  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Was  very  poor  and  drunk- 
en. For  the  last  two  years,  has  been  a  respectable  and  faithful  member  of 
the  Temperance  Society.  Is  now  so  afraid  of  ardent  spirit,  that  some  months 
ago,  when  in  great  bodily  pain,  he  refused  camphor,  because  it  was  dissolved 
in  it. 

No.  29.  About  40  years  old,  with  a  family  and  poor.  Had  been  intemperate 
for  years.  Has  recently  promised  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  and 
I  hope  soon  to  see  him  in  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  30.  Upwards  of  30  years  of  age,  with  a  family,  and  was  poor.  Had 
been  intemperate  for  several  years :  but,  for  the  last  year  or  two,  he  has  been  a 
zealous  and  faithful  member  of  the  Temperance  Society.  He  is  now  a  sober, 
pious,  industrious  and  money-making  man. 

No.  31.  About  60  years  of  age.  Had  long  been  intemperate  and  poor. 
Lives  at  a  distance  from  this  place.  Visited  his  friends  here  last  winter,  and  got 
caught  in  the  Temperance  trap.  Returned  home  a  sober  man,  and,  to  the  great 
joy  of  his  numerous  and  very  worthy  family,  has  remained  so  ever  since.  It  is 
Baid,  that  his  old  drinking  companions  tried  very  hard  to  get  him  back  into  the 
rum  ranks.  He  is  industrious  in  proselyting  his  drunken  neighbors  to  Tem 
perance.     Of  course  he  belongs  to  the  Temperance  Society. 

No.  32.  About  40  years  of  age.  This  is  a  very  remarkable  instance.  He 
fives  a  number  of  miles  from  this  place,  but  is  to  remove  to  this  neighborhood 
in  two  or  three  weeks.  Seven  or  eight  months  since,  he  came  to  me,  late  in  the 
evening,  for  the  single  purpose,  as  he  avowed,  of  subscribing  his  name  to  the 
Temperance  Pledge.  He  was  very  drunk.  1  sought  hard  to  put  him  off.  But 
he  would  subscribe  the  pledge.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  this,  and  nothing  short 
of  this,  would  save  him.  Rather  to  rid  myself  of  his  importunity,  than  in  the 
hope  of  benefitting  him,  I  wrote  the  pledge  for  him  to  sign.  He  took  the  pen, 
fell  upon  his  knees,  and  signed  it ;  and  immediately  after  offered  an  audible  prayer 
of  ten  minute's  length.  Strange  to  say,  he  has  never  tasted  spirituous  liquor 
since.  He  is  now  very  industrious,  and  very  ambitious  to  be  a  man  of  respecta- 
bility and  property.  His  remaining  affection  for  his  amiable  and  pious  wife 
seemed  to  be  his  strongest  motive  for  signing  the  pledge  and  entering  upon  the 
redemption  of  his  character.  Let  the  unhappy  wife  of  the  drunkard  so  demean 
herself  towards  her  wretched  partner,  as  to  keep  alive  his  love  of  her.     In  some 

10 


110  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [448 

heaven-favored  moment,  that  love  may  impel  him  to  successful  efforts  to  escape 
from  his  bondage. 

No.  33.  About  forty  years  of  age.  Had  long  been  a  drunkard.  His  family 
frequently  needed  the  comforts  of  life.  Nearly  a  year  ago,  he  resolved  on  total 
abstinence  from  ardent  spirit,  and  has  been  a  sober  industrious  man,  ever  since. 
He  has  not  yet  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  but  probably  will  soon  join  it. 
I  believe  he  wishes  to  make  a  thorough  trial  of  his  constancy  to  his  new  princi- 
ples, before  he  joins  the  Society.  In  this,  he  is  in  a  common  error.  He  needs, 
and  so  does  every  drunkard,  who  is  striving  to  reform  himself,  the  help  of  a 
connection  w>th  the  Temperance  Society  to  keep  him  from  falling. 

No.  34.  About  5.5  years  of  age,  with  a  family.  Had  been  intemperate  for 
many  years.  About  four  years  ago  he  joined  the  Temperance  Society,  and  has 
been  a  perfectly  sober  man  ever  since.  Never,  however,  until  the  last  winter, 
did  he  resolve  to  give  up  cider.  It  was  much  feared  by  some  of  his  friends, 
that  his  use  of  cider  would  bring  him  back  to  rum. 

No.  35.  About  30  years  of  age.  Well  educated.  Was  a  very  great  drunk- 
ard, and  was  very  poor.  Two  or  three  years  ago  he  joined  the  church,  and  ever 
since  he  has  been  a  sober,  pious  and  useful  man.  He  removed  into  a  neighbor- 
ing town  soon  after  he  made  a  profession  of  religion. 

No.  36.  Very  drunken  and  poor.  Has  recently  joined  the  Temperance 
Society.  Does  well  thus  far.  But  I  cannot  yet  form  an  opinion  how  he  will 
hold  out. 

No.  37.     Similar  to  No.  36  in  all  respects. 

No.  38.  Upwards  of  50  years  of  age  :  had  long  been  a  drunkard  :  became 
pious  two  or  three  years  since,  and  joined  the  church.  Last  winter  some  of  his 
rum  drinking  neighbors  got  him  to  drink,  until  he  was  intoxicated.  When  he 
became  sober,  he  was  very  penitent,  and  hastened  to  join  the  Temperance  So- 
ciety. Previously,  he  felt  too  strong  to  need  the  help  of  a  connexion  with  it. 
I  can  now  confidently  say  of  him,  that  he  is  a  sober  man  and  a  Christian. 

This  list  would  be  far  longer  than  it  now  is,  should  I  add  to  it  the  names  of 
all  those  persons,  within  the  same  territory,  who,  but  for  the  Temperance  re- 
formation, would,  in  all  probability,  have  become  drunkards,  ere  this  time.  Num- 
bers of  my  most  respectable  neighbors  had  already  drunk  ardent  spirit  so  long 
as  to  contract  a  decided  appetite  for  it. 

The  most  important  fact  established  by  the  foregoing  narrative  is  the  con- 
nection between  the  Temperance  Reformation  and  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Or,  I  might  venture  the  remark,  that  innumerable  instances  in  our  country, 
similar  to  sonic  in  this  narrative,  establish  the  fact,  that  the  Temperance  Reforma- 
tion is  itself  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Well  has  the  Reformation  been  called 
the  John  Baptist  of  the  Gospel.  For,  in  thousands  of  instances,  it  has  prepar- 
ed the  way  for  the  Saviour  to  take  possession  of  the  sinner's  heart.  Such  con- 
versions to  God.  as  are  recorded  in  this  narrative,  whilst  they  illustrate  His 
forbearance,  greatly  encourage  the  individual,  who  enters  into  the  work  of 
reforming  the  drunkard,  with  the  hope,  that  he  may  be  instrumental  in 
saving  "  a  soul  from  death,"  as  well  as  drying  up  the  fullest  and  bitterest 
fountains  of  temporal  misery. 

Were  there  space  for  it  in  this  communication,  I  might  advert  to  several 
other  facts  established  by  the  foregoing  narrative  ;  and  especially  to  the  one, 
that  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  induces  poverty.  But  I  pass  from  this  to  say 
something  about  our  process  for  reforming  the  drunkard. 

Benevolence  is  the  soul  of  this  process,  as  it  is  emphatically  of  the  whole 
Temperance  enterprise:  and  if  any  are  laboring  to  promote  that  enterprise  from 
motives  at  all  inferior  to  the  love  of  their  fellow  men,  they  are  at  best  but  feeble 
helpers  of  our  noble  cause.  Those  of  my  neighbors,  who  have  undertaken,  in 
reliance  on  God,  the  work  of  reforming  drunkards,  do  not  feel  and  act  towards 
these  wretched  beings,  as  they  once  did.  They  have  learnt  highly  prized  les- 
sons on  this  subject  in  the  great  school  of  Temperance  Reform.  Formerly, 
they  despised  the  drunkard.  Now  they  pity  him.  Now  they  feel,  that  no  class 
of  men  are  entitled  to  draw  so  largely  on  their  compassion,  as  drunkards  are  ; 
and  especially  do  they  feel  this,  when  they  consider  how  much  they  have  them- 
selves done  to  make  drunkards.  For  who  of  us  can  in  truth  say,  that  he  has 
done  nothing   towards  continuing  that  rum-drinking  custom  in  our  country, 

34 


449]       SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834. — APPENDIX.       Ill 

whence  have  come  all  our  drunkards?  Formerly,  they  repulsed  the  drunkard 
From  their  doors;  neglected  his  sufferings  ;  and  wherever  they  met  him,  mani- 
fested their  contempt  and  abhorrence  of  him.  Now,  they  are  kind  to  him; 
furnish  him  with  employment:  are  tender  of  his  feelings,  and  attentive  to  his 
wants.  The  drunkard's  self-despair  arises,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the  con- 
viction, that  he  is  an  outcast  from  the  public  respect  and  sympathy.  Of  this 
we  have  been  aware  in  our  efforts  to  reform  him  ;  and  we  have  sought  to  shoi? 
him,  that,  as  to  ourselves  at  least,  this  conviction  shall  henceforth  be  groundless 
We  have  taken  great  pains  to  persuade  him  that  we  are  his  friends,  and  that 
every  improvement  in  his  habits,  however  slight,  would  proportionably  and 
promptly  elevate  him  in  our  esteem.  We  have  also  cheerfully  consented  to  prac- 
tise every  self-denial,  by  which  we  could  gain  his  confidence  :  for  in  no  way 
can  you  so  surely  win  men's  hearts  to  you,  as  by  submitting  to  obvious  self- 
denial,  for  their  sake.  It  was  not  because  of  his  self-denial,  but  it  was  not- 
withstanding this  endearing  virtue,  that  the  great  Pattern  of  self-denial 
was  crucified.  Whilst  inculcating  the  doctrine,  that  the  drunkard,  to  be 
thoroughly  reformed,  must  relinquish  wine,  cider,  and  malt  liquors,  as  well 
as  ardent  spirit,  we  have  seen  and  submitted  to  the  necessity  of  giving  up  these 
drinks  ourselves.  The  drunkard  is  affected  by  this  self-denial  for  his  sake  ;  and 
he  straightway  opens  his  heart  to  those  who  practise  it.  But  should  we,  whilst 
insisting  on  his  disuse  of  these  drinks,  indulge  in  them  ourselves,  he  would 
despise  our  inconsistency  and  selfishness :  and  wG  should  only  make  the  mat- 
ter worse,  by  attempting  to  justify  ourselves  in  saying  to  him  :  "  these  drinks 
are  safe  for  us  who  are  sober  ;  but  you,  who  have  lost  your  self-control,  are  not 
to  be  trusted  with  them."  Much  as  the  drunkard's  self-respect  is  impaired,  he 
cannot  brook  a  distinction  so  offensive  as  this. 

The  self-denial,  that  prompted  the  god-like  Howard  to  visit  and  explore  the 
vilest  and  most  repulsive  scenes  on  earth,  "to  take  the  guage  and  dimensions 
of  human  misery,"  in  its  most  loathsome  and  aggravated  forms,  must  actuate 
him,  who  would  befriend  and  save  the  drunkard.  His  regard  for  the  drunk- 
ard's welfare  must  be  stronger  than  his  disgust  towards  his  loathsome  vice  ; 
and  he  must  toil  for  his  rescue  unweariedly.  Even  as  the  man  of  God  fixes 
his  weeping  eyes  on  an  impenitent  neighbor,  and  resolves  in  the  holy  benevo- 
lence of  his  heart,  that  he  will  devote  himself  to  the  salvation  of  that  neigh- 
bor ;  so  must  the  friend  of  Temperance  single  out  the  drunkard  ;  employ  upon 
his  recovery  the  fruitful  ingenuity,  that  a  good  man  ever  has  in  a  good  cause  ; 
visit  him  frequently  ;  exhort  him  "  in  season  and  out  of  season  ;"  wrestle  with 
God  for  hiin  ;  entreat  others  to  be  kind  to  him,  as  well  in  their  example,  as  in 
their  words ;  and  he  must  finally  resolve  never  to  give  over  the  labor,  whilst 
his  unhappy  fellow  being  remains  the  slave  of  the  bowl. 

I  recollect  having  said  to  you,  a  couple  of  years  since,  that  the  Temperance 
Reformation  was  worth  all  it  had  cost,  if  it  were  only  for  its  having  developed 
and  exercised,  in  composition  and  public  speaking,  so  much  of  the  talent  of 
the  young  men  in  humble  life  in  this  country.  I  would  now  add,  that  the 
Reformation  is  worth  all  it  cost,  had  it  accomplished  no  other  good  than  that  of 
teaching  thousands  of  professors  of  religion,  that  they  have  little  self-denial, 
and  of  course  little  of  Christ  in  them.  The  Temperance  Reformation  has 
shown,  that  many  a  professor  of  this  self-denying  religion,  would  rather  cling 
to  his  glass,  than  throw  it  away  to  save  a  soul. 


i 


D.     (P.  64.) 

Extracts  from  the  Report  of  S.  Chipman,  Esq.,  who  visited  all  the  Almshouses, 
and  Jails,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
To  Aristarccs  Champion,  Esq. — Dear  sir :  I  am  now  prepared  to  make  an 
exhibit  of  the  result  of  an  examination,  which  your  liberality,  with  the  blessing 
of  God,  has  enabled  me  to  undertake  and  accomplish,  to  which  I  have  devoted 
nine  month's  time,  and  in  which  I  have  travelled  more  than  four  thousand  five 
hundred  miles. 


112  AMERICAN     TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY.  [450 

Notwithstanding  1  have  shown  beyond  the  power  of  contradiction  that  more 
than  three-fourths  of  the  ordinary  tax  is  absorbed  by  the  support  of  the  poor,  and 
the  administration  of  criminal  justice — that  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  pauper- 
ism is  occasioned  by  intemperance,  and  more  than  five-sixths  of  those  committed 
on  criminal  charges  are  intemperate,  yet  the  greatest  obstacle  in  our  way  is  the 
pecuniary  interest  of  a  few  individuals — that  of  manufacturers,  and  venders.  If 
the  tax-payers  will  submit  to  this,  we  might,  looking  upon  it  as  a  mere  matter 
of  pecuniary  profit  or  loss,  stand  by  and  laugh  at  their  folly  :  but  when  we 
reflect  that  the  business  of  the  manufacturer  and  vender  involves  the  temporal 
happiness  of  thousands,  as  well  as  their  eternal  interests,  this  subject  assumes  an 
infinitely  more  serious  aspect.  In  no  poor-house  that  I  have  visited  have  I  failed 
of  finding  the  wife  or  the  widow,  and  the  children  of  the  drunkard.  In  one  poor- 
house,  as  my  certificate  will  show,  of  one  hundred  and  ninety  persons  relieved 
there  the  past  year,  were  nineteen  wives  of  drunken  husbands,  and  seventy- 
one  children  of  drunken  fathers.  In  almost  every  jail  were  husbands  confined 
for  whipping  their  wives,  or  for  otherwise  abusing  their  families.  In  one  nine, 
in  another  fourteen,  in  another  sixteen,  had  been  in  prison  for  this  offence  the 
last  year  :  in  another  three  out  of  the  four  who  were  then  in  prison  were  confined 
for  whipping  their  wives.  But  when  we  reflect  that  but  a  very  small  proportion 
of  these  brutes  in  human  shape  are  thus  punished,  the  amount  of  misery  and 
domestic  suffering,  arising  from  this  source,  exceeds  the  powers  of  the  human 
mind  to  compute  ;  and  yet  the  sale  of  that  which  causes  all  this  is  not  only 
tolerated  but  is  authorised  by  law. 

You,  sir,  with  every  friend  of  his  country,  and  especially,  every  friend  to  the 
religion  of  our  Saviour,  cannot  but  be  pained  at  the  bare  recital  of  these  facts  ; 
yet  you,  and  all  that  are  engaged  in  the  temperance  reformation,  may  have  the 
pleasing  reflection  that  you  are  laboring  to  eradicate  these  evils,  and  that  all 
your  labors  and  sacrifices  in  this  cause  have  thus  far  been  crowned  with  a 
measure  of  success  so  far  beyond  your  most  sanguine  anticipations,  as  to  de- 
monstrate that  the  cause  of  Temperance  is  under  the  special  protection  of  Him, 
who  can,  and  will  cause  it  ultimately  to  gain  a  complete  and  glorious  triumph. 


The  following  loill  show  the  present  condition  of  Temperance  operations  through- 
out that  State. 

The  Executive  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society 
respectfully  submit  to  the  Parent  Institution  the  following  summary  of  results, 
by  the  blessing  of  Providence  consequent  upon  the  efforts  of  the  Society  in 
that  state,  during  the  sixth  year  of  its  operations. 

6'J3  Towns  and  Cities  have  reported  1652  organized  societies.  Ill  towns  have 
not  sent  in  their  reports,  all  of  which  have  one  or  more  societies ;  but  the  com- 
mittee estimate  them  each  to  contain  one  organization,  which  added,  makes  the 
town  and  city  associations  amount  to  17G3.  The  organization  of  the  10,000 
school  districts  in  the  state  is  rapidly  progressing  :  from  the  tenor  of  the  reports, 
the  committee  calculate  that  at  least  1000  of  these  minute  associations  are 
already  formed.  So  that  the  committee  feel  safe  in  calculating  2500  as  the 
number  of  associations,  large  and  small,  in  the  state  of  New  York,  for  the  pro- 
motion of  temperance.  The  actual  number  of  pledged  members  in  the  G89 
towns  reported,  amounts  to  320,427 — averaging  about  4(50  to  each.  Estimating 
the  towns  that  have  failed  to  report,  at  only  one-half  of  those  that  have,  would 
give  the  present  Temperance  strength,  in  pledged  members,  340,107. 

The  actual  increase  during  the  past  year,  in  the  towns  reported,  amounts  to 
91.G42:  add  the  increase  in  towns  not  reported,  and  the  committee  estimate  the 
whole  increase  of  members  for  the  past  year,  to  be  at  least  100,000. 

Fourteen  hundred  and  seventy-two  persons  have  been  reported  as  having 
abandoned  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  during  the  year,  in  their  taverns  or  stores: 
many  towns,  in  their  reports,  state  that  all  have  abandoned  the  traffic ;  and 
numbers  not  being  given,  they  cannot  be  estimated.  In  the  towns  reported, 
2874  persons  still  continue  to  bring  on  their  neighborhood  taxes,  beggary  and 
death,  by  dealing  out  ardent  spirit  for  gain., 

The  subscription  to  the  Temperance  Recorder  in  the  various  counties  in  the 
state,  amounts  to  97,924 — in  the  whole  Union,  over  200,000. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing  results,  the  committee  thank  God,  and  take  courage. 


^ - 


451]       SEVENTH  REPORT. 1834. APPENDIX.        113 

They  have  some  things  to  discourage,  but  more  to  encourage  ;  and  it  is  their 
intention,  should  their'  lives  be  spared,  to  address  themselves  to  their  labors  with 
renewed  diligence  and  zeal,  with  a  solemn  conviction  of  duty  to  God  and  nan, 
and  with  thThope  that  they  may  rece.ve  the  assistance,  the  tf^J***** 
prayers  of  all  good  men,  and  the  continued  countenance  of  God  Almighty, 
without  which  their  efforts  would  be  powerless. 

In  behalf  of  the  Executive  Committee,  .»»,-., ,.«    /-..    • 

lnuu  EDWARD  C    DELAVAN,  Chairman. 

Albany,  July  2dth,  1834. 


E.      (P.   91.) 

Pursuant  to  a  call  from  the  American  Temperance  Society,  as  recommended 
by  the  National  Tempeiance  Convention,  held  at  Philadelphia.  May  24,  1&», 
a  meeting  of  officers  and  delegates  from  the  State  Societies,  through.nit the 
United   States,  assembled  for  the   purpose  of  forming  a  general  Temperance 

D°r"s.  Agnew,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  called  to  the  chair,  and  John  Marsh  and 
I   S   Loyd  were  appointed  secretaries. 

On  motion-Justin  Edwards,  Edward  C.  Delavan,  N.  S.  N.  Beraan  Thomas 
Rrainard  and  G  B.  Perry,  were  appointed  a  committee  to  report  officers  and 
pre  are  buless  for  the7' meeting'1  The  committee,  after  having  retired 
reported  the  following    members  as  officers   for  the   present  meeting  of  the 

Onion:  STEPHEN  VAN  RENSSELAER,  of  N.  Y.,  President. 

Samuel  Agnew,  of  Penn. 
William  Jay,  of  New  York,         | 
G.  B.  Perry,  of  "Massachusetts,    \Vice  Presidents. 

RlCHAHD    BoYLSTON,of  N.  H. 

Cyrus  Yale,  of  Connecticut,       J 
John  Marsh,  of  Pennsylvania,         ~\ 
Isaac  S.  Lord,  of         do.  [.Secretaries. 

Harrison  Gray,  of  Massachusetts, 
Thomas  Br.unard,  of  Ohio,  J 

The  committee  farther  reported  a  series  of  resolutions,  which  were  adopted, 

1  Reived.  That  the  officers  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  and  of 
each  of  the  State  Temperance  Societies,  in  their  associated  capacity,  be  denom- 
;i.-itnrt    The  United  States'  Temperance  Union. 

f  Relolved,  That  the  object  o?  this  Union  shall  be,  by  the  diffusion  of  infor- 
mation, and  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influence,  to  promote  the  cause  of  Tem- 
neranee  throughout  the  United  States.  . 

1 rSesdledf  That  Isaac  S.  Loyd,  Matthew  Newkirk,  and  Isaac  Collins  of 
Penn  yTvan  a.  John  Tappan,  of  Massachusetts,  Edward  C  Delavan,  and 
Samuel  Ward,  of  New  York,  and  Christian  Keener  of  Manrland  be *  com- 
mittee to  carry  into  effect.,  by  all  suitable  means,  the  objects  of  this  Union ,  and 
that  they  continue  in  office  till  others  are  appointed. 

4  Resolved  That  the  above  mentioned  commmittee  call  another  meeting  ot 
this  Union  at  such  time  and  place  as  they  may  judge  proper 

5.  Resolved,  That  the  Corresponding  Secretaries  of  all  Mate  Societies  be,  ex- 
officio,  members  of  this  committee.  , 

6.  As  it  is  proved  by  the  united  testimony  of  thousands  of  medical  men  and 
by  a  great  number  of  facts,  that  ardent  spirit  is  a  poison  the  drinking  of  which 
£  not  only  needless,  but  hurtful,  as  it  necessarily  tends  to  lorn,  intemperate 
appetites  and  habits,  and  while  the  use  of  it  as  a  drink  is  ^mued  intemper- 
ance can  never  be  done  away  ;  as  it  causes  a  great  portion  of  the  crimes,  wretch- 
edness and  pauperism  in  the  community  ;  increases  greatly  the  number,  sever,  y 
and  fatal  termination  of  diseases;  tends  to  weaken  and  derange  the  intellect, 

10* 


114  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [452 

pollute  the  affections ;  harden  the  heart  and  corrupt  the  morals  ;  as  it  deprives 
many  of  reason,  and  still  more  of  its  healthful  and  salutary  exercise,  and  brings 
down  multitudes  annually  to  an  untimely  grave  ;  as  it  tends  to  produce  in  the 
children  of  many  who  drink,  a  predisposition  to  intemperance,  insanity  and 
various  bodily  and  mental  diseases  ;  to  cause  a  diminution  of  strength,  a  feeble- 
ness of  vision,  a  fickleness  of  purpose  and  a  premature  old  age,  and  to  produce 
to  all  future  generations  a  general  deterioration  of  physical  and  moral  character; 
as  it  tends  to  promote  vice  and  wickedness,  to  counteract  the  efficacy  of  the 
gospel,  and  of  all  means  for  the  intellectal  elevation,  the  moral  purity,  the  social 
happiness,  and  the  eternal  good  of  mankind,  and  is,  without  any  counteracting 
benefits,  in  all  its  influence  and  effects  evil,  only  evil,  and  that  continually  ;  as 
its  use  is  a  manifest  violation  of  the  laws  of  health,  of  life  and  of  God,  and  if 
continued,  will  perpetuate  intemperance  and  its  innumerable  evils,  to  all  future 
generations,  and  extend  its  destructive  effects  over  multitudes,  we  fear,  to 
eternity  :  therefore, 

Resoh-cd,  That  for  the  benefit  of  the  community,  and  especially  the  young,  it 
be  published  and  circulated  as  extensively  as  practicable,  that,  in  the  judgment 
of  this  body,  after  deliberate  and  careful  attention  to  this  subject,  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit,  as  a  drink,  is  morally  wrong,  and  ought  to  be  universally  aban- 
doned; and  that  we  unite  witli  the  thousands  of  physicians  and  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  philanthropic  men,  in  this  and  other  countries,  in  expressing 
the  sentiment  that  the  entire  disuse  of  it  as  a  drink,  would  tend  powerfully  to 
promote  the  health,  the  virtue  and  the  happiness  of  the  community. 

7.  As  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  ministers  to  the  use  of 
it,  and  teaches  the  erroneous  and  destructive  sentiment,  that  such  use  is  right, 
and  thus  tends  to  produce  and  to  perpetuate  the  above  mentioned  evils;  as  it 
also  tends  by  increasing  pauperism  and  crime,  to  augment  the  taxes  of  the 
people,  as  well  as  to  diminish  their  health,  corrupt  their  morals  and  shorten 
cheir  lives,  and  is  thu,s  manifestly  unjust  as  well  as  injurious  towards  the  com- 
munity, being  contrary  to  all  just  views  of  liberty, as  well  as  a  violation  of  the 
fundamental  maxim  of  common  law,  "so  use  your  own  as  not  to  injure  the 
public  ;"  that  for  the  benefit  of  a  few,  (spirit  dealers),  the  many  should  be  bur- 
dened, therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  traffic  in  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  is,  in  our  view,  morally 
wrong,  and  ought  to  be  universally  abandoned. 

8.  As  the  traffic  is  now  upheld  by  the  sanction  of  legislation,  and  that  legis- 
lation by  teaching  to  community  the  error,  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  as  a 
drink,  and  the  traffic  in  it  as  such,  are  right,  tends  to  perpetuate  the  above 
mentioned  evils,  and  to  hinder  the  truth  from  producing  the  universal  convic- 
tion that  the  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  and  the  traffic  in  it  are  morally  wrong, 
therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  be  respectfully  suggested  to  all  friends  of  humanity,  whether 
the  laws  which  authorise  the  traffic  in  distilled  liquors  as  a  drink,  by  licensing 
men  to  pursue  it,  are  not  morally  wrong,  and  whether  they  ought  not  to  be  so 
modified,  that  the  evil  should  be  no  longer  licensed,  or  its  continuance  receive 
the  sanction  of  legislative  support. 

9.  As  what  is  morally  wrong  is  never  politically  right,  or  expedient,  or 
useful,  but  is  always  on  the  whole,  detrimental  to  the  community,  therefore  it 
is  respectfully  suggested  whether  it  ought  ever  to  be  licensed,  and  whether 
all  legislation  in  regard  to  it,  if  legislation  is  required  by  the  public  good  and  the 
voice  of  the  people,  ought  not  to  be,  not  on  the  ground  of  licensing  the  sin.  but 
only  in  the  wisest  and  best  way,  of  defending  the  community  from  its  evils. 

10.  As  the  practice  of  drinking  spirit  is  perpetuated,  not  principally  from 
regard  to  the  gratification  and  to  obtain  the  money  of  drunkards,  but  of  mod- 
erate drinkers,  and  from  their  ranks  alone  the  recruits  are  to  be  taken,  for  all 
the  drunken  armies  that  are  to  be  raised,  to  all  future  generations,  and  as  no 
other  men  can  keep  up  a  eustom  which  shall  perpetuate  intemperance  and  its 
abominations  except  themselves  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  innumerable  evils  which  they  may  remove, 
and  the  infinite  benefits  which  they  may  confer  on  the  community,  they  hereby 
are  respectfully,  and  kindly,  and  earnestly  requested  to  permit  the  intemperance 
of  our  country  to  cease. 

34* 


453] 


SEVENTH  REPORT. 1S34. APPENDIX.        116 


11.  The  morality  or  immorality  of  using  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink,  is,  in  our 
view,  the  grand  point  on  which  the  defeat  or  triumph  <>f  the  temperance  cause 
depends,  If  it  is  thought  to  be  morally  right  to  drink  ardent  spirit,  and  to  traffic 
in  it,  both  will  probably  be  continued,  intemperate  appetites  will  be  formed) and 
drunkenness  with  its  evils  will  be  perpetuated;  but  if  it  is  morally  wrong,  and 

tl vidence  of  this  truth  is  universally,  kindly,  and  pereeveringly  exhibited 

in  words  and  in  deeds,  by  all  the  friends  of  truth  ;  and  attended  as  in  that  case 
we  uiii  v  expect  it  will  be,  by  the  influences  of. the  spirit  of  truth,  it  will  univer- 
sally prevail  ;  therefore, 

Resolvt  il .  That  all  persons  who  do  not  drink  or  furnish  ardent  spirit,  and  yet 
do  not  believe  either  to  be  immoral,  be,  and  they  hereby  are  requested  to  exam- 
ine the  subject  in  the  light  of  all  the  facts  which  are  developed,  and  of  all  the 
consequences  of  drinking  ardent  spirit,  and  see  if  they  have  not  heretofore  been 
mistaken  ;  and  if  they  should  be  convinced  that  the  practice  is  immoral,  that 
they  be  requested  to  use  all  suitable  means  to  spread  universally  the  evidence 
of  this  truth  throughout  our  land. 

12.  As  it  is  a  maxim  of  common  law  as  well  as  of  common  sense  and  of  the 
Bible,  that  the  accessory  and  the  principal  in  crime  are  both  guilty,  and  as  the 
men  who  furnish  grain  and  other  materials  for  the  distillation  of  ardent  spirit 
to  be  used  as  a  drink,  and  the  men  who  rent  tenements  for  grog-shops  to  be 
occupied  in  the  sale  of  it,  are  manifestly  accessory  to  the  perpetuating  of  the 
drinking  of  it  and  its  evils  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  they  be,  and  hereby  are  respectfully  requested  to  consider 
whether  their  practice  in  the  above  mentioned  particulars  is  not  inconsistent 
with  moral  duty,  and  injurious  in  its  consequences  to  mankind;  and  whether 
an  enlightened  regard  to  the  public  good,  as  well  as  to  the  great  principles  of 
morality  and  the  Christian  religion,  do  not  require  that  those  practices  should  be 
universally  abandoned. 

13.  As  the  expression  of  the  views  of  enlightened,  judicious  and  philanthropic 
men,  especially  of  those  who,  from  their  profession  and  employment,  have 
peculiar  opportunities  to  form  a  correct  judgment  on  the  subject,  has  deservedly 
great  weight  with  the  community,  and  as  more  than  3,0UU  physicians  have 
given  it  as  their  settled  conviction,  that  ardent  spirit  as  a  drink  is  not  needful 
or  useful ;  that,  on  the  other  hand  it  is  exceedingly  hurtful,  being  a  i'requent 
cause  of  disease  and  death,  and  often  rendering  diseases  that  arise  from  other 
causes  more  difficult  of  cure  and  more  fatal  in  their  termination,  and  that  the 
entire  disuse  of  it  would  greatly  promote  the  health,  the  virtue  and  comfort  of 
the  community  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  all  physicians  in  the  United  States,  be,  and  they  hereby 
are  respectfully  requested  to  examine  this  subject,  and  give  the  result  of  their 
inquiries  with  regard  to  the  nature  of  ardent  spirit,  in  its  effects  on  the  human 
system  to  the  public  ;  and  to  state  explicitly,  whether  in  their  view  the  entire 
disuse  of  it  as  a  beverage,  would  not  promote  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

14.  As  knowledge  and  virtue  are  essential  to  the  welfare  of  mankind,  and  the 
dissemination  of  truth  is  one  of  the  principal  means  of  doing  good,  and  espe 
cially  in  this  cause,  whose  grand  instrumentality  is  the  universal  diffusion  of 
information,  and  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influence;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  we  view  with  great  pleasure,  the  rapid  increase  of  temperance 
publications,  and  would  earnestly  recommend  it  to  the  friends  of  temperance  in 
each  state,  to  take  effectual  measures  to  put  a  copy  of  some  such  publication 
statedly,  into  every  family  that  will  receive  it  throughout  the  country. 

15.  As  the  living  voice  is  one  of  the  principal  means  of  operating  on  the 
public  mind,  and  many  persons  can  be  influenced  only  by  this  means,  and  as 
great  good  has  already  been  accomplished  by  means  of  living  agents,  visiting 
all  parts  of  a  county,  or  a  state  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  it  be,  and  hereby  is  respectfully  and  earnestly  recommended 
to  the  friends  of  temperance  to  employ  one  or  more  such  agents  permanently  in 
each  state. 

10.  As  young  men  are  the  hope  of  our  country,  and  as  the  course  which  they 
may  take  with  regard  to  temperance,  will  have  a  momentous  bearing  not  onlj 
on  their  own  character  and  happiness,  but  on  their  influence  upon  the  world 
and  as  the  cause  of  temperance  has  already  been  essentially  promoted  by  this 


116  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [454 

interesting  and  efficient  class  of  our  citizens ;  and  should  all  young  men  give 
to  this  cause  their  united  and  persevering  support,  it  would  soon  be  universally 
triumphant;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  every  young  man  in  the  United  States,  in  view  of  the  benefits 
which  his  example  and  influence  may  confer,  be  requested  to  give  to  this  cause 
his  prompt,  energetic  and  unremitted  support. 

17.  As  the  elevation  and  worth  of  woman,  and  the  extent  and  power  of  her 
influence,  are  sure  indications  of  the  state  of  society;  and  as  according  to  this 
standard  our  countrymen  are  under  special  obligations  to  the  Author  of  all 
good,  and  are  bound  to  be  peculiarly  grateful  for  the  bright  manifestations  of  his 
favor;  and  as  the  cause  of  temperance  in  common  will  all  other  good  causes, 
has  greatly  multiplied  and  extended  it  blessings,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  woman's  example  and  efforts ;  and  should  that  example  and  effort  be  general, 
united  and  persevering  in  the  promotion  of  this  cause,  so  intimately  connected 
with  her  own  comfort  and  prospects,  and  that  of  those  whom  she  most  tenderly 
loves,  and  for  whom  she  most  cheerfully  sacrifices  and  labors,  it  would  surely  pre- 
vail, become  universal,  and  its  blessings  be  extended  to  all  future  time ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  females  of  the  United  States,  in  view  of  the  powerful  and 
salutary  influence  which  they  may  exert  over  all  classes  in  the  community,  and 
especially  over  the  young ;  and  the  immeasurable  blessings  which  they  may  be 
instrumental  in  conferring  upon  all  future  generations  and  for  both  worlds,  be, 
and  they  hereby  are,  most  respectfully  and  earnestly  requested,  universally  in 
all  suitable  ways  to  give  to  this  cause  their  united  and  persevering  efforts. 

After  the  organization  of  the  Union,  the  foregoing  resolutions  were  adopted 
with  great  unanimity,  as  expressing  the  deliberate  and  solemn  convictions  of  its 
members.  We  subjoin  the  following  remarks  as  explanatory  of  the  temperance 
organization  in  America.  This  organization  consists  of  the  American  Temper- 
ance Society,  twenty -three  State  Temperance  Societies,  and  more  than  seven 
thoxisand  associations  in  counties  and  smaller  districts  of  country . 

The  American  Temperance  Society,  is  composed  of  a  number  of  known  and 
influential  friends  of  temperance  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States.  Its 
object  is,  by  the  diffusion  of  information,  and  the  exertion  of  kind  moral  influ- 
ence, to  extend  the  principles  and  blessings  of  temperance  throughout  the 
world.  In  the  prosecution  of  this  object,  it  does  not  intend  to  unite  all  friends 
of  temperance  in  the  United  States  in  that  society,  but  to  procure  the  formation 
of  a  state  society  in  each  state,  a  county  society  in  each  county,  and  local  asso- 
ciations in  cities,  towns,  villages  and  districts  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  Each 
of  the  state  societies  takes  the  general  supervision  of  temperance  operations 
throughout  the  state.  The  county  societies,  as  far  as  they  please,  are  auxiliary 
to  these,  and  superintend  operations  in  the  county.  Local  associations  in  cities, 
towns,  &c,  when  they  choose  to  be,  render  themselves  auxiliary  to  the  county 
societies,  but  regulate  their  own  movements  and  efforts  according  to  their  own 
views  of  necessity  and  expediency,  and  with  direct  reference  to  their  own  wants 
and  ability.  Each  society  is  independent  of  all  others,  except  so  far  as  each 
may  choose  for  mutual  benefit,  and  for  the  public  good  to  become  united  ;  no 
one  society  having  power  to  dictate  to  another,  or  to  control  its  operations. 
Each  seeks  the  same  object,  but  no  one  is  obliged  to  pursue  any  but  its  own 
course  to  attain  that  object. 

The  United  States'  Temperance  Union  consists  of  the  officers  of  the  American 
Temperance  Society,  and  of  each  of  the  State  Temperance  Societies,  or  of  a 
delegation  equal  to  their  number,  appointed  by  them. 

Enough  has  been  done  to  show  that  the  principles  adopted  are  correct,  and 
the  means  used  efficacious.  Let  them  be  universally  and  perseveringly  applied, 
and  with  the  divine  blessing,  the  object  will  be  accomplished.  Abstinence  from 
the  use  of  that  which  intoxicates,  while  it  will  tend  to  promote  the  bodily  and 
spiritual,  the  temporal  and  eternal  good  of  mankind,  will  also  cause  drunken- 
ness to  cease  from  the  earth.  Sobriety,  with  its  attendant  blessings,  will 
become  universal,  and  the  time  be  hastened,  when  the  will  of  God  shall  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 


60  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY  [514 

RESOLUTIONS    ADOPTED  BY    THE    NEW  YORK  STATE   TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY, 
AT    THEIR    SEMI-ANNUAL   MEETING,   JULY   9,  1835. 

1.  Resolved,  That  tbe  following  preamble  and  resolution  adopted  by  the  American  Tem- 
perance Society  meet  our  cordial  approbation  :  viz. 

**  As  it  has  been  proved  by  the  experience  of  thousands  in  the  United  Stales,  of  all  classes 
of  persons,  and  in  all  kinds  of  lawful  business,  that  abstinence  from  the  use  of  all  kinds  of 
intoxicating  liquor  as  a  drink,  is  not  only  safe  but  salutary,  and  as  this  is  the  only  course  in 
whicn  it  can  be  rationally  expected  that  intemperate  persons  will  ever  be  permanently 
reformed,  and  as  the  example  and  kind  moral  influence  of  the  temperate  is  the  grand  means 
of  leading  the  intemperate  to  adopt  and  pursue  a  course  so  essential  to  their  present  and 
future  good  ;  therefore, 

Resolved,  That  the  more  extensively  this  course  is  adopted  by  all  classes  in  the  commu- 
nity, and  especially  by  all  members  of  temperance  societies,  the  more  rapid  will  be  the 
progress  of  the  temperance  reformation,  and  the  more  certain  the  prospect  that  drunkenness 
and  its  evils  will  cease." 

2.  That  wherever  temperance  societies  have  been  formed,  on  the  principle  of  abstinence 
from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  and  yet  drunkenness  is  continued  from  the  use  of  other  intox- 
icating drinks,  it  is,  in  our  view,  proper  and  expedient  that  there  should  be  a  pledge,  signed 
by  such  as  are  disposed,  that  shall  include  abstinence  from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all 
intoxicating  liquor;  and  the  more  generally  this  course  is  adopted  the  more  complete  will 
be  the  triumphs  of  the  temperance  cause. 

3.  That  the  rapid  increase  of  temperance  societies  on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use, 
as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating  liquor,  manifests  the  deep  hold  which  the  cause  has  taken 
upon  the  hearts  of  philanthropists,  and  affords  increasing  evidence  that  it  will  not  be  relin- 
quished till,  through  the  divine  blessing,  its  triumphs  shall  be  complete  and  universal. 

4.  That  the  promptness  and  unanimity  with  which  increasing  numbers  of  young  men  are 
adopting  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquor,  is  an  exhibition  which  ought 
greatly  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  their  fathers :  and  is  an  example  which,  if  universally  followed 
by  the  youth  of  the  United  States,  would  not  only  save  multitudes  from  drunkenness  and 
ruin,  but  would  tend  to  make  that  interesting  class  of  our  citizens,  beyond  any  generation 
that  has  gone  before  them,  the  benefactors  of  our  country  and  of  the  world. 

5.  That  the  formation  of  such  societies  among  children  and  youth,  whose  parents  and 
guardians  are  willing  to  have  them  unite  in  these  societies,  would,  in  our  view,  tend  not 
only  to  promote  their  own  highest  benefit,  but  to  render  them  more  eminently  useful  to 
mankind. 

6.  That  the  union  with  such  societies  by  the  older  and  more  influential  classes  in  the 
community  would  be  an  example  which  would  have  a  most  salutary  influence  on  the  young, 
and  would  tend  strongly  to  induce  them  to  set  out  in  life  in  the  way  they  should  go,  and 
when  they  should  become  old  not  to  depart  from  it. 

7.  That  the  importing  and  exporting,  the  manufacturing  and  vending,  or  in  any  way 
furnishing  intoxicating  liquor  to  be  used  as  a  common  drink,  are  in  our  view  injurious  to  the 
community,  tend  powerfully  to  hinder  the  progress  of  the  temperance  reformation,  and  the 
efficacy  of  all  means  for  the  intellectual  elevation,  the  moral  purity,  the  social  happiness  and 
the  eternal  good  of  men,  and  ought  therefore  to  be  universally  abandoned. 

8.  That  the  furnishing  of  materials  for  the  making  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and  the  renting 
of  buildings  to  be  occupied  for  the  sale  of  it,  to  be  used  as  an  ordinary  beverage,  are  in  our 
view  inconsistent  with  the  good  of  society  and  ought  for  ever  to  cease. 

9.  That  the  practice  of  Insurance  Companies,  in  insuring  temperance  vessels  at  a  less 
premium  than  others,  tends  greatly  not  only  to  promote  the  cause  of  temperance,  but  to 
increase  the  safety  of  property,  and  to  promote  the  health,  virtue  and  happiness  of  seamen, 
and  the  preservation  of  human  life. 

10.  That  the  licensing  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  to  be  used  as  a  common  drink, 
and  thus  throwing  over  this  immorality  the  shield  of  legislative  sanction  and  support,  and 
teaching  to  the  community  the  erroneous  and  destructive  doctrine,  that  its  continuance  is 
required  by  the  public  good,  when  the  facts  show  that  the  public  good  utterly  forbids  it,  is  in 
our  view  inconsistent  with  the  good  of  society,  and  ought  not  to  be  continued. 

11.  That  should  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  and  its  manifold 
evils  to  society  be  continued,  and  should  the  public  good  and  the  voice  of  the  people  require 
the  continuance  of  legislation  with  regard  to  it ;  the  object  of  such  legislation  ought  to  be, 
instead  of  licensing  the  sin,  to  defend  the  community  from  its  evils. 

12.  That  the  universal  diffusion  of  information,  with  regard  to  the  nature  and  effects  of 
intoxicating  liquor,  and  with  regard  to  the  benefits  of  abstaining  from  the  use  of  it,  and  an 
exhibition  of  those  benefits  by  the  united,  consistent  and  persevering  example  and  kind 
moral  influence  of  patriots,  philanthropists  and  Christians,  may  in  our  view  be  expected, 
under  the  continued  smiles  of  a  benignant  and  gracious  Providence,  to  increase  and  extend 
the  temperance  reformation,  till  its  triumphs  shall  be  complete,  and  its  blessings  become 
permanent  and  universal. 

13.  That  the  plan  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  for  embodying  the  facts  on  this 
momentous  subject  in  a  permanent  volume,  and  furnishing  a  copy  of  it  for  each  professional 
man,  legislator,  secretary  of  a  temperance  society,  school  teacher,  and  youth  in  all  public 
seminaries  of  the  United  States,  &c,  also  for  sending  copies  of  it  to  each  missionary  of  all 
denominations  who  have  gone,  or  may  go  to  the  heathen,  and  also  to  distinguished  and 
philanthropic  men  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  with  a  letter  briefly  staiinc  what  has  been  done 
in  this  and  other  countries,  the  benefits  which  have  already  resulted  from  the  temperance 
reformation,  and  the  blessings  which,  should  it  become  universal,  would  result  to  the  world, 
and  inviting  a  prompt  and  universal  co-operation,  meets  with  our  cordial  anp-ohation  :  arid 
that  we  will  assist  in  earning  a  plan  so  fraught  with  blessings  to  mankind,  into  execution 


EIGHTH    REPORT 


A3IERICAJV    TEMPERAJVCE    SOCIETY. 


Ever  since  man  turned  away  from  God,  as  the  source  of 
enjoyment,  and  from  his  service  as  the  means  of  obtaining  it,  he 
has  been  prone  to  seek  it  in  some  improper  bodily  or  mental 
gratification.  And  no  kind  has  perhaps  been  more  deadly  in  its 
influence  upon  him,  especially  as  a  rational,  accountable,  and 
immortal  being,  than  that  which  results  from  the  drinking  of  in- 
toxicating liquor. 

That  intoxicating  principle,  which  has,  in  this  country,  been 
the  chief  cause  of  drunkenness,  is  not  the  product  of  creation  ; 
nor  is  it  the  result  of  any  living  process  in  nature.  The  animal 
kingdom,  in  all  its  vast  variety  of  existence,  and  modes  of  opera- 
tion, saith,  "  It  is  not  in  me;"  and  the  vegetable  kingdom  responds, 
"  It  is  not  in  me."  It  cannot  be  found,  and  it  does  not  exist, 
among  all  the  living  works  of  God.  Those  substances,  however, 
which  contain,  or  which  will  produce  sugar,  after  they  are  dead, 
and  have  become  subject  to  those  laws  which,  then,  operate  on 
inanimate  matter,  in  the  incipient  stages  of  decomposition,  under- 
go a  process,  which  chemists  call,  vinous  fermentation.  By  this 
process  a  new  substance  is  formed,  called  Alcohol.  This  is  the 
means  of  intoxication.  It  is  composed  of  hydrogen,  carbon,  and 
oxygen  in  the  proportion  of  13,04  ;  52,17;  and  34,79  parts  to 
a  hundred  ;  and  is  in  its  nature,  as  manifested  by  its  effects,  an 
exceedingly  subtle  and  diffusive  poison.  The  elements,  by  the 
combination  of  which  this  is  formed,  existed  before  ;  but  the 
substance,  which  this  combination  forms,  did  not  before  exist.  It 
is  an  entirely  new  substance,  and  is  altogether  different  in  its 
nature  and  effects,  from  what  existed  before.  It  was  formed,  not 
by  the  process  which  operates  in  the  formation  of  living  matter,  but 
by  that  which  operates  on  a  certain  kind  of  matter,  only  after  it  is 
dead.  And  the  substance  which  is  thus  formed  is  as  really  dif- 
ferent, in  its  nature  and  effects,  from  every  thing  which  existed 
before,  as  the  poisonous  miasma  is  different  from  the  fruits,  or  the 
vegetables,  from  the  decomposition  and  decay  of  which  it  springs. 
It  is  as  really  different,  as  sickness  is  different  from  health  ;  or 
drunkenness  is  different  from  sobriety.  Hence  it  no  more  fol- 
1 


2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY  [456 

lows,  because  fruits  and  grains  are  proper  for  man,  that  therefore 
Alcohol,  which  the  fermentation  of  these  substances  produces,  is 
proper,  than  it  follows,  because  those  substances  are  proper,  that 
therefore  poisonous  miasma  is  proper.  One  is  formed  by  a  living 
process  ;  the  other  by  a  process  which  operates,  only  after  death. 
And  they  are  as  really  different,  as  life  is  different  from  death. 
Because  one  is  good,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  other  is  good  ; 
and  to  conclude  that  it  is,  is  as  really  unphilosophical,  as  it  would 
be  to  conclude,  that  because  potatoes  are  good  as  an  article  of 
diet,  that  therefore  the  manure  out  of  which  they  grew,  is  good 
for  the  same  purpose.  But  one  does  not  follow  from  the  other. 
There  is  no  such  connection  between  them  as  to  lay  the  foun- 
dation for  any  such  conclusion. 

We  are  the  more  particular  on  this  point,  because  there  is  much 
error  in  the  public  mind,  with  regard  to  it.  Many  suppose  that 
there  is  some  portion  of  Alcohol  in  all  vegetable  substances  ;  at 
least  in  all,  whose  fermentation,  after  death,  will  produce  it.  But 
this  is  an  entire  mistake.  Not  a  living  vegetable  under  heaven,  so 
far  as  has  yet  been  discovered,  contains  a  particle  of  it.  It  does 
not  exist  in  any  living  substance.  It  is  formed  only  by  vinous 
fermentation.  After  it  is  formed,  it  can  be  extracted  from  fer- 
mented liquors,  in  three  ways.  One  is,  to  place  the  liquor  under 
a  receiver,  and  exhaust  the  air  ;  when  the  Alcohol,  being  lighter 
and  more  volatile  than  the  other  parts,  at  a  temperature  of  about 
70  degrees,  will  rise  ;  and  may  thus  be  obtained. 

Another  way,  is,  to  precipitate  the  mucilaginous  parts,  the  acid 
and  the  coloring  matter,  by  means  of  the  subacetate,  or  sugar  of 
lead  ;  and  then  to  take  off  the  water  that  remains,  by  means  of 
the  sub-carbonate  of  potassa,  or  pearlashes  ;  when  the  Alcohol  will 
remain. 

Another  way  is  by  the  application  of  heat,  as  in  common  distil- 
lation. The  art  of  distillation  has  been  said,  by  some,  to  have 
been  known  in  China,  at  a  period  much  earlier  than  we  have  any 
authentic  evidence  of  its  having  been  known  in  other  parts  of  the 
world.*  But  there  is  no  proof  that  Alcohol  was  ever  extracted 
from  fermented  liquor,  till  about  eight  or  nine  hundred  years  ago. 
When  this  was  first  done  in  Arabia,  no  person  knew  what  this 
product  of  distillation  was  ;  nor  was  there  any  language  that  had 
for  it  even  a  name.  They  however  made  a  name.  They  called 
it  Alcohol ;  and  that  is  the  chemical  name,  in  every  country,  to 
this  day.  Alcohol  in  the  language  of  that  country,  was  a  fine  im- 
palpable powder,  with  which  the  women  used  to  paint  their  faces, 
for  the  purpose  of  increasing  their  beauty  ;  and  in  order  to  appear 
to  be,  what  they  really  were  not.    And  if  any,  under  the  influence 

*  See  Morehead  on  inebriating  liquors,  p.  107,  &c. 


457]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1335.  3 

of  this  intoxicating  poison,  really  thought,  that  they  were  more 
beautiful  than  they  were  when  sober,  and  under  the  influence  of 
that  only,  which  God  made  as  a  beverage  for  man,  they  were 
deceived.  But  they  were  not  more  really  deceived,  than  have 
been  the  thousands  and  millions,  who,  under  the  idea  of  being 
benefited  by  the  drinking  of  Alcohol,  have  since  lived  and  died 
under  its  power.  It  is  in  its  nature,  in  a  high  degree,  "  a  mocker  ;" 
and,  it  is  also  "raging."  Whosoever  is  "deceived  thereby,"  as 
every  man  is,  who  thinks  that  as  a  beverage,  it  does  him  good,  "  is 
not  wise." 

It  was  however  soon  ascertained  to  be  a  poison  ;  and  it  does 
not  appear,  that  any  one,  who  understood  its  nature,  even  thought 
that  the  time  would  ever  come,  when  any  people  would  think  of 
using  it,  as  a  drink.  Arnoldus  de  Villa,  a  physician  in  the  south 
of  Europe,  who  lived  in  the  thirteenth  century,  is,  so  far  as  is 
known,  the  first  writer  whose  opinion  is  on  record,  who  recom- 
mends in  any  case  the  use  of  it  even  as  a  medicine.  Under  his 
influence,  however,  and  that  of  his  disciple,  Raymond  Lully,  who 
was  born  at  Majorca,  in  1234,  its  medicinal  use  extended  north- 
ward, and  spread  over  various  parts  of  Europe.  Judging  from 
its  immediate  effects,  it  was  thought  to  increase  life  ;  and  was 
denominated,  aqua  vitas,  water  of  life.  This  was  what  its  friends 
pretended  it  to  be  ;  and  what,  while  under  its  influence,  and 
deluded  by  its  effects,  multitudes,  down  to  this  day,  have  thought 
it  to  be.  Whereas  if  named  according  to  its  nature  and  conse- 
quences, it  should  have  been,  aqua  mortis,  et  damnationis;  water 
of  death,  and  damnation.  Yet,  so  powerful  was  its  influence  to 
deceive  men,  and  to  make  them  call  evil  good,  and  good  evil, 
that  Theoricus,  as  stated  in  Holinsheds  Chronicles,  published  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  wrote  a  treatise  upon  its  wonderfully  sana- 
tive power  ;  in  which  he  says,  "It  sloweth  age,  it  strengthened 
youth,  it  helpeth  digestion,  it  cutteth  flegme,  it  abandoneth  mel- 
ancholic, it  relisheth  the  heart,  it  lighteneth  the  mind,  it  quick- 
eneth  the  spirits,  it  cureth  the  hydropsia,  it  healeth  the  strangurie, 
it  pounceth  the  stone,  it  expelleth  gravell,  it  puffeth  away  ven- 
tositie,  it  keepeth  and  preserveth  the  head  from  whirling,  the 
eyes  from  dazzling,  the  tong  from  lisping,  the  mouth  from  snaf- 
fling, the  teeth  from  chattering,  and  the  throat  from  rattling  ;  it 
keepeth  the  weasan  from  stiffling,  the  stomach  from  wambling, 
and  the  heart  from  swelling  ; — it  keepeth  the  hands  from  shiv- 
ering, the  sinews  from  shrinking,  the  veins  from  crumbling,  the 
bones  from  aching,  and  the  marrow  from  soaking."  Such  were 
supposed  to  be  its  wonderful  virtues  ;  and  many  began  to  think 
that  they  could  not  live  without  it. 

Ulstadius,  another  writer,  ascribes  to  it  this  most  singular  praise  ; 
he  says,  "It  will  burn,  being  kindled."  And  this  he  considers, 
as  demonstration  of  its  peculiar  excellence. 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [458 

It  was  not  therefore  strange,  with  such  views  of  its  power  as  a 
medicine,  that  men  should  begin  to  conclude  that  it  must  also  do 
good  in  health,  especially  when  they  were  peculiarly  exposed,  and 
under  severe  labor  ;  nor  that  they  should  introduce  the  use  of  it 
for  the  purpose  of  preventing,  as  well  as  curing  diseases.  Th's 
was  the  case,  particularly  in  the  mines  in  Hungary  ;  and  afterward?, 
in  1581,  it  was  introduced,  by  the  English,  as  a  kind  of  cord  al 
for  their  soldiers,  while  engaged  in  war  in  the  Netherlands. 

It  was  also  introduced  as  a  drink  into  Ireland  and  various  other 
places.  What  was  the  consequence  of  this  ?  The  same  which 
ever  has  been,  and  while  the  world  stands,  ever  must  be,  the  conse- 
quence in  every  country,  of  thus  using  it,  delusion,  DELUSION, 
as  to  its  nature  and  effects.  Men  cannot  come  under  the  power 
of  this  mocker,  and  not  be  mocked.  Another  effect  was,  and, 
while  it  is  used,  ever  must  be,  it  created  a  tendency  to  perpetuate 
that  use  of  it  ;  and  also  to  increase  the  quantity  used.  Hence 
says  a  British  writer,  speaking  of  their  introducing  it  into  the  army 
in  1581,  "From  this  little  cloud,  no  bigger  than  a  man's  hand, 
has  been  evolved  that  mighty  mass  which  is  now  suspended  over 
our  country  ;  and  which  is  pouring  its  fiery  streams  through  all 
the  currents  of  public  and  domestic  intercourse."  The  people 
of  that  country,  have  since  drunk  40,000,000  gallons  of  distilled 
spirit,  besides  vast  quantities  of  fermented  spirit,  in  a  year.  And 
says  one  of  their  Medical  writers,  "  The  disease  occasioned  by  it 
has  been  by  far  more  destructive  than  any  plague  that  ever  raged 
in  Christendom  ;  more  malignant  than  any  other  epidemic  pesti- 
lence, that  ever  desolated  our  suffering  race  ;  whether  in  the  shape 
of  the  burning  and  contagious  typhus,  the  loathsome  and  mortal 
small  pox,  the  cholera  of  the  east,  or  the  yellow  fever  of  the  west ; 
a  disease  by  far  more  loathsome,  infectious  and  destructive,  than 
all  of  them  put  together,  with  all  their  dread  array  of  suffering  and 
death,  united  in  one  ghastly  assemblage  of  horrific  and  appalling 
misery."  And  although  it  did  not  become  a  common  drink,  with 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  till  within  less  than  one  hundred 
years,  they  have  since  drunk  in  a  year,  more  than  00,000,000 
gallons  ;  and  the  people  of  some  other  countries  have  drunk,  in 
proportion  to  their  numbers,  more  than  twice  that  quantity. 

No  nation  has  ever  adopted  the  use  of  it  without  its  producing 
similar  effects  ;  nor  without  its  proving  to  be,  one  of  the  most 
fruitful  causes  of  all  their  woes.  Yet  while  evil  after  evil  has 
rolled  in  upon  them  like  the  waves  of  the  sea,  they,  under  the 
vain,  delusive  idea,  that  they  were  promoting  their  own  benefit, 
nave  continued,  till  within  a  few  years,  constantly  to  increase  the 
cause.  Here  is  a  delusion,  one  of  the  most  entire,  extended,  and 
fatal,  with  which  sin,  or  Satan,  has,  in  any  form,  ever  cursed  the 
world.  And  when  this  delusion  is  exhibited,  under  the  life-giving 
power  of  Him  who  causes  light  to  shine  out  of  darkness,  men 


459]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  5 

awake  from  it,  as  from  a  dream;  and  as  the  truth  is  exemplified 
in  practice,  they  say  with  amazement,  "  Why  have  we  never 
seen  this  before?"  The  answer  to  this  question,  is,  "If  God 
had  not  showed  it  to  us,  we  should  not  have  seen  it  now." 

Yet  there  are  reasons  for  that  delusion  ;  reasons  why  men 
th.nk  that  this  poison,  taken  in  some  form  or  degree,  does  them 
good  ;  and  of  course,  why  after  they  have  begun,  they  continue 
to  take  it ;  and  also  reasons  why  they  continue  to  increase  the 
quantity.     Some  of  these  reasons  are  the  following,  viz. 

Such  is  the  nature  of  Alcohol,  that  its  first  effect  on  the  human 
system  is  a  quickening  of  action  ;  animation,  excitement.  This, 
by  a  fundamental  law  of  our  nature,  is  a  source  of  pleasure.  This 
present  pleasure,  men  mistake  for  real  good.  It  also  arouses  for  a 
moment  the  reserved  and  dormant  energies  of  the  system,  which 
are  not  needed,  and  were  not  designed  for  ordinary  healthful  ac- 
tion, but  were  intended  to  be  kept  for  special  emergencies  ;  and 
which  cannot  be  drawn  out  and  used,  on  ordinary  occasions, 
without  necessarily  shortening  human  life.  This  awakening  of 
dormant  energy,  men  mistake  for  an  increase  of  real,  permanent 
strength.  But  on  both  these  points  they  are  entirely  mistaken. 
As  well  might  they  conclude  that  because  sin,  sometimes  gives 
present  pleasure,  that  therefore  it  is  a  source  of  real  good  ;  or 
because  the  delirium  of  a  fever,  sometimes  arouses  into  action 
dormant  energies, — and  the  man  who  before  had  hardly  life 
enough  to  raise  a  hand,  for  a  moment,  puts  on  the  energy  almost 
of  a  giant,  that  therefore  disease  and  delirium  are  a  source  of 
permanent  strength,  as  to  draw  any  such  conclusion  concerning 
Alcohol.  The  fruit  which  God,  on  pain  of  death,  had  forbidden 
promised,  and  the  eating  of  it  may  have  given,  present  pleasure. 
But  the  man  who  thinks  that  it  was,  or  that  sin  is,  in  any  case, 
the  means  of  real  good,  is  entirely  mistaken.  He  calls  evil 
good,  under  the  delusion,  which  the  practice  of  evil  occasions. 
The  falling  into  a  river,  and  the  immediate  danger  of  drowning  of 
an  infant  child,  or  its  exposure  to  be  consumed  in  a  house  on  fire, 
may  awaken  the  dormant  energies  of  a  delicate  and  affectionate 
mother,  and  arouse  for  a  moment  the  strength  almost  of  Hercules 
for  its  rescue.  But  the  man,  or  the  woman,  who  thinks,  judging 
from  the  immediate  effects,  that  such  scenes  increase  real,  per- 
manent strength,  is  mistaken.  Whatever  the  present  appearance 
or  reality  may  be,  the  consequence  is,  weakness,  not  strength ; 
sickness,  not  health  ;  death,  and  not  life.  So  with  sin,  in  all 
cases  ;  its  end  is  bitterness  and  death.  So  with  Alcohol.  What- 
ever the  present  appearance  or  reality,  "at  the  last,  it  biteth  like 
a  serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an  adder." 

Yet  as  it  gives   present  pleasure,   and   appears   sometimes  to 
increase  strength,  a  motive  is  hereby  created  to  drink  it. 
1* 


6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [460 

It  sometimes  also  appears  to  remove  trouble,  and  this  is  anoth- 
er motive  to  take  it.  A  man's  wife,  in  the  state  of  New  York, 
was  seized  with  the  cholera,  and  he  was  in  trouble.  She  died  ; 
and  he  drank  Alcohol.  Under  its  influence,  he  took  her  by  the 
hair  of  her  head,  and  in  high  glee,  dragged  her  body  across  die 
floor,  and  tumbled  it  into  the  coffin.  It  seemed  to  remove  trou- 
ble, and  even  under  the  most  trying  circumstances,  to  occasion 
mirth.  But  the  mirth  of  the  wicked  is  short ;  and  the  end  of 
that  mirth  is  heaviness.  Yet,  as  the  mirth  is  real,  and  is  occa- 
sioned by  Alcohol,  it  presents  a  motive  to  drink  it.  And  thou- 
ands  do  drink  it  on  this  account. 

It  sometimes  also  seems  to  remove  even  poverty  ;  and  to  in- 
crease riches,  and  other  desirable  things.  A  poor  man  in  Massa- 
chusetts who  was  not  a  drunkard,  but  was  in  the  habit  of  daily 
using  spirit,  greatly  to  his  own  injury,  and  that  of  his  family,  was 
entreated  by  a  rich  neighbor,  to  renounce  the  practice.  He  had 
aone  it  himself,  and  found  great  benefit,  and  he  wished  his  neigh 
*)or  to  do  it.  But  the  poor  man  gave  this  as  a  reason  why  they 
did  not  think  alike  on  this  subject.  "You,"  said  he,  "are  a 
rich  man,  and  of  course  have  no  need  of  taking  it.  You  are 
rich  enough,  and  you  feel  rich  enough,  without  it.  But  I  am  a 
poor  man ;  and  nobody  likes  always  to  feel  poor  ;  and  when  a 
man  has  taken  a  little,  he  feels  five  hundred  dollars  richer,  than 
he  did  before."  But  is  he  any  richer?  Is  his  family  any  richer? 
Or  is  it  all  delusion?  Delusion  ;  but  no  more  real  than  the  men 
experience  in  other  cases,  who,  because  it  gives  them  present 
pleasure,  think  it  does  them  real  good.  It  gave  to  this  man  for  a 
moment  the  pleasure  of  feeling  that  he  was  rich,  when  he  was  not 
rich  ;  the  pleasure  of  being  deceived  ;  and  this  is  its  nature.  It 
gives  to  men  the  pleasure  and  profit  of  deception.  For  this 
reason,  it  has  often  been  furnished  at  public  sales  of  property  for 
the  purpose  of  leading  those  who  might  attend,  and  would  partake 
of  it,  to  feel  more  rich  than  they  really  were  ;  and  to  give  more 
for  property,  than  it  was  worth. 

A  respectable  lawyer  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston  was  about 
to  sell  the  wood  which  was  standing  upon  a  certain  piece  of  ground. 
He  knew  that  ardent  spirit  is  poison,  and  of  course  that  it  is 
wicked  for  men  to  drink  it,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  oth- 
ers ;  and  although  it  had  been  the  custom,  on  such  occasions,  to 
furnish  it,  he  told  the  vendue-master,  not  to  furnish  any  ;  but  in 
its  stead,  to  furnish  nourishing  food.  The  vendue-master  con- 
sented to  follow  his  directions,  but,  said  he,  "I  am  very  sorry, 
you  will  lose  a  great  deal  of  money.  I  know  how  it  works  ;  and 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  after  men  have  been  drinking,  the 
trees  look  a  great  deal  larger  than  they  did  before."  But  are  they 
any  larger?    Men  may  also,  sometimes,  seem  to  see  two  or  more 


461]  EIGHTH    REPORT. — 1835.  <% 

trees,  where  before  they  drank  the  poison,  they  could  see  but 
one.  But  are  there  any  more  trees  than  there  were  before? 
Yet  as  there  seem  to  be  more,  or  they  seem  to  be  larger,  and  men 
who  furnish  the  poison,  get  at  the  time  more  money,  it  presents 
to  them  a  powerful  temptation  to  commit  the  sin  of  furnishing  it. 

A  number  of  gentlemen  in  the  State  of  New  York,  assembled 
to  consult  upon  the  worth  of  certain  parcels  of  land,  which  were 
to  be  offered  at  public  sale.  After  due  consideration,  they  con- 
cluded unanimously,  that  the  lands  were  not  worth  over  a  certain 
sum,  and  that  they  would  not  sell  for  more.  At  the  time  ap- 
pointed, they  attended  the  sale.  No  one  offered  more  than  what 
was  considered,  by  men,  when  they  were  not  poisoned,  to  be  the 
worth  of  the  property.  The  owner  would  not  sell  it  at  that 
price.  He  invited  the  men  to  his  house,  and  gave  them  Alcohol 
and  water,  sweetened  and  prepared  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be 
palatable.  After  partaking  of  it  they  repaired  again  to  the  sale, 
and  one  of  those  very  men,  who  is  now  a  highly  respectable  man, 
felt  so  much  richer  than  he  did  before,  the  property  appeared  to 
be  so  much  more  valuable,  and  it  appeared  to  him  so  much  more 
important  that  he  should  have  it,  that  he  bid,  and  actually  gave 
more  than  four  times  as  much  as  he,  or  any  other  man,  when  not 
poisoned,  thought  the  land  to  be  worth,  or  was  willing  to  give  for  it. 
The  above  account  the  writer  of  this,  had  from  the  man  himself. 
A  vendue-master  in  Connecticut,  in  giving  an  account  of  such 
cases,  said,  "  I  have  often,  in  this  way,  gotten  more  than  ten  times 
the  worth  of  the  spirits  which  I  furnished."  Horse-jockeys,  gam- 
blers, thieves,  highway-robbers,  and  murderers  often  furnish  Alco- 
hol for  this  purpose.  Men  are  now  carrying  it  in  great  quantities, 
to  different  parts  of  our  country,  to  the  Indians  on  our  borders,  and 
to  various  portions  of  the  heathen  world,  for  the  express  purpose 
of  deceiving  those  who  drink  it,  and  thus  by  deception  and  fraud, 
obtaining  their  money.  Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  men 
drink  it,  and  why  they  furnish  it,  to  be  drunk  by  others.  The 
one  class  experience  a  temporary  pleasure,  or  a  seeming  increase 
of  some  desirable  thing,  and  the  other  class  obtain,  or  hope  to 
obtain,  more  money.  But  both  the  money  and  the  pleasure,  or 
other  supposed  benefits,  are,  in  these  cases,  obtained  by  a  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  and  will  of  God;  and  although  real,  and  thus 
operate  as  motives,  are  nevertheless  forbidden,  and  of  course 
must  be  hurtful,  and  short. 

Let  us  now  look  a  moment  at  some  of  the  reasons  why  men 
who  begin  to  drink  Alcohol,  not  only  continue  to  drink  it,  but 
continue  also  to  increase  the  quantity. 

The  system,  by  this  poison,  having  been  over-excited,  becomes 
deranged;  and  having  been  over-worked,  without  any  new  strength 
communicated,  it  is  of  course  weakened,  and  therefore  soon  flags; 


8  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [462 

becomes  tired,  and  is  exhausted.  Now,  according  to  another 
fundamental  law,  there  is  pain,  languor,  and  inexpressible  uneasi- 
ness spread  through  the  system,  as  suffering  nature,  under  the  awful 
abuse  which  has  been  practised  upon  her,  cries  out  for  help.  A 
man  cannot  thus  chafe,  irritate  and  exhaust  his  system,  and  not 
afterwards  feel  uneasiness,  any  more  than  he  can  put  his  hand  into 
the  fire,  and  not  feel  pain.  He  violates  a  law  established  by  God; 
and  must  find  the  way  of  transgressors  to  be  hard.  Hence  arise 
two  motives  to  drink  again.  One  is,  to  obtain  the  past  pleasure, 
and  the  other  is,  to  remove  the  present  pain.  But  as  the  system 
is  unstrung  and  partly  worn  out,  and  is  also  lower  down  than  it 
was  before,  the  same  quantity  will  not,  the  next  time,  raise  it  up 
so  high;  nor  cause  the  wearied  organs  to  move  so  briskly.  Of 
course  it  will  not  fully  answer  the  purpose;  will  not  give  so  much 
present  pleasure,  or  produce  so  much  effect,  as  before.  Hence 
the  motive  to  increase  the  quantity;  and  for  the  same  reason,  in 
future,  to  increase  it  more,  and  still  more.  As  every  repetition 
increases  the  difficulty,  and  also  throws  new  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  its  removal,  the  temptation  to  increase  the  quantity,  grows 
stronger  and  stronger.  The  natural  life  of  the  system  constantly 
diminishes,  and  of  course  in  order  to  seem  to  live,  what  there  is, 
must  be  more  and  more  highly  roused,  till,  in  one  half,  one  quar- 
ter, or  one  eighth  of  the  proper  time,  the  whole  is  exhausted,  and 
the  man  sinks  prematurely  to  the  grave. 

There  is  another  principle  which  tends  also  strongly  to  the 
same  result.  The  more  any  man  partakes  of  this  unnatural,  for- 
bidden, and  guilty  pleasure,  which  Alcohol  occasions,  the  less 
susceptible  he  becomes  of  the  natural  and  innocent  pleasures,  oc- 
casioned by  the  use  of  nourishing  food  and  drink;  by  the  view 
and  contemplation  of  the  works  of  creation  and  Providence;  by 
the  exercise  of  the  social  affections,  and  the  discharge  of  the  va- 
rious duties  of  life.  It  disinclines  the  mind  to  look  at  God,  and 
incapacitates  it,  not  only  for  the  spiritual,  but  also  for  the  nat- 
ural pleasures,  which  his  works  and  ways  are  adapted  to  afford. 
Hence  a  person  under  its  power  becomes  more  and  more  desti- 
tute of  ail  enjoyment,  except  that  of  this  mocker.  Like  Phara- 
oh's lean  kind,  it  devours  all  other  kinds;  and  as  to  enjoyment, 
becomes  to  the  man,  more  and  more,  all  in  all.  And  however 
much  he  may  have,  he  remains  still  unsatisfied;  nor  is  his  leanness 
or  craving  abated.  And  while  its  immediate  influence  becomes  to 
him  more  and  more  his  only  enjoyment,  the  absence  of  that,  and 
the  experience  of  its  ultimate  effects,  becomes  increasingly  the 
sum  and  substance  of  his  woes.  And  thus,  by  the  allurement  of 
his  sole  pleasure  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  terrors  of  awful  wretch- 
edness on  the  other,  he  is  urged  on  to  death.  Of  all  the  expe- 
dients which  Satan  has  ever  devised  to  increase  the  descent  and 


463]  EIGHTH  REPORT. 1834.  9 

velocity  of  a  man,  on  his  course  toward  perdition,  and  augment 
the  difficulty  of  his  return,  the  drinking  of  Alcohol  is  among  the 
chief.  And  though  the  taking  it,  may  seem  right  unto  a  man, 
who  is  under  its  power,  "  the  end  thereof  is  the  way  of  death  " 

From  the  above,  it  is  evident,  that  the  deranged  and  exhausted 
state  of  the  system,  from  which  the  uneasiness,  when  not  under 
the  excitement  of  Alcohol,  springs,  and  which  causes  the  hanker- 
ing or  thirst  after  the  poison,  is  not  a  natural  state;  nor  is  that 
appetite  a  natural  appetite.  God  never  gave  it,  nor  is  it  the  fruit 
of  obedience  to  him;  but  it  is  always  formed,  by  a  violation  of  his 
laws.  Hence  another  reason,  why  this  course,  like  every  ether 
course  of  sinning,  is  downward;  and  the  farther  a  man  proceeds 
in  it  the  steeper  it  becomes,  the  swifter  his  progress,  and  the  more 
difficult  his  return.  It  is  the  way  of  disobedience  to  God;  of 
course  the  way  of  death.  Such  are  some  of  the  reasons  why 
men  who  begin  to  drink  Alcohol,  and  receive  from  it  nothing  but 
injury,  nevertheless,  not  only  continue  to  drink  it,  but  to  drink  it 
in  greater  and  greater  rpiantily. 

Let  us  now  consider  how  it  causes  death.  Alcohol  is  a  sub- 
stance which  is  in  its  nature  unfit  for  the  purposes  of  nutrition. 
It  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  animal  economy  to  decompose  it, 
and  change  it  into  blood,  or  flesh,  or  bones,  or  any  thing  by  which 
the  human  body  is,  or  can  be  nourished,  strengthened,  and  sup- 
ported. When  taken  into  the  stomach,  it  is  sucked  up  by  absorb- 
ent vessels,  and  carried  into  the  blood;  and  with  that  is  circulated 
through  the  whole  system,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  is  then  thrown 
off  again.  But  it  is  Alcohol  when  taken,  it  is  Alcohol  in  the 
stomach,  it  is  Alcohol  in  the  arteries,  and  veins,  and  heart,  and 
lungs,  and  brain,  and  among  all  the  nerves,  and  tissues,  and  fibres 
of  the  whole  body,  and  it  is  Alcohol,  when,  after  having  pervaded 
and  passed  through  the  whole  system,  it  is  thrown  oft' again.  Give 
it  even  to  a  dog,  and  take  the  blood  from  his  foot,  and  distil  it,  and 
you  have  Alcohol,  the  same  which  the  dog  drank.  No,  not  that 
which  he  drank;  for  a  dog  knows  too  much  to  drink  it;  the  same 
which,  in  opposition  to  his  knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  or  the 
instinctive  sense  which  God  gave  him,  and  drunkenness  had  not 
perverted,  you  forced  upon  him.  Not  even  the  sense  of  a  dog 
will  permit  him  to  take  it,  nor  can  the  powerful  stomach  of  a  dog 
digest  it.  Much  less  can  that  of  a  man.  Take  the  blood  from 
the  arm,  the  foot,  or  the  head,  of  the  man  who  drinks  it,  and  distil 
that  blood,  and  you  have  Alcohol.  You  may  take  it  from  the  brain, 
strong  enough,  on  the  application  of  fire,  in  an  instant  to  blaze. 
(See  Permanent  Temperance  Documents,  p.  202.)  Not  a  blood 
vessel  however  minute,  not  a  thread  of  the  smallest  nerve  in  the 
whole  animal  machinery,  escapes  its  influence.  It  enters  the 
organs  of  the  nursing  mother,  which  prepare  the  delicate  food  for 

2 


10  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [464 

the  sustenence  and  growth  of  her  child.  It  is  taken  into  the  cir- 
culations and  passes  through  the  whole  system  of  the  child;  having 
through  its  whole  course  produced  not  only  on  the  mother,  but 
also  on  the  child,  the  appropriate  effects  of  the  drunkard's  poison. 
This  is  a  reason,  why,  after  the  mother  has  taken  it,  the  babe 
although  before  restless,  sleeps  all  night  like  a  drunkard;  and  a 
reason  also,  why  such  children,  if  they  live,  often  have  an  appetite 
for  spirit,  and  are  so  much  more  likely,  than  other  children,  to 
become  drunkards.  This  is  a  reason,  also,  why,  when  the  parents 
have  been  in  the  habit  of  freely  taking  it,  their  children  are  so 
much  smaller,  and  less  healthy  than  other  children;  have  less  keen- 
ness and  strength  of  eye-sight;  firmness  of  nerve,  or  ability  of 
body  and  mind  to  withstand  the  attacks  of  disease,  and  the  vicis- 
situdes of  climates,  and  seasons;  and  also  a  reason  why  they  have 
less  inclination  and  less  talent  for  great  bodily,  and  mental  achieve- 
ments. By  the  operation  of  laws,  which  no  man  can  repeal,  or 
withstand,  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers  are  thus  naturally  visited 
upon  the  children,  from  generation  to  generation. 

Nor  is  the  increased  liability  to  drunkenness,  or  diminution  of 
size,  and  strength  of  body  and  mind,  the  only  evils.  There  is  also 
a  greatly  increased  liability  to  insanity,  and  various  other  diseases. 
The  records  of  insanity  throughout  the  world  show  that  Alcohol 
has  been,  in  all  countries  where  it  has  been  used,  one  of  the  chief 
causes  of  this  disease.  It  penetrates,  pervades,  and  hardens  the 
brain.  (See  Permanent  Temperance  Documents,  p.  64,  69, 
202,  &c.)  The  same  may  be  said  with  regard  to  a  great  number 
and  variety  of  other  formidable  and  fatal  diseases.  (See  Do. 
p.  203,  405.)  From  the  fact  that  it  is  not  suitable,  as  an  article 
of  diet,  it  follows  of  course  that  it  must  be  hurtful,  and  that  it  is 
wicked  to  drink  it,  or  to  furnish  it  to  be  drunk  by  others.  All  the 
organs  of  the  body,  have  as  much  labor  to  perform,  as  is  consistent 
with  permanently  healthful  action,  when  they  have  nothing  to  dis- 
pose of,  but  suitable  food  and  drink.  God  designed  that  they 
should  all  in  that  case  be  diligent  in  business;  and  in  the  struc- 
ture of  the  human  body,  he  has  given  them  as  much  work  as  they 
can  perform  in  the  proper  disposal  of  suitable  diet,  and  yet  remain 
permanently  healthy,  and  preserve  life  to  the  longest  time.  And 
if  you  withhold  from  them  a  suitable  portion  of  that  which  is 
nourishing,  and  thus  lessen  their  strength,  or  load  them  with  that 
which  is  not  nourishing,  and  thus  increase  their  labor,  you  neces- 
sarily produce  premature  decay  and  death. 

In  the  taking  of  Alcohol,  you  do  both  of  these.  You  ultimate- 
ly lessen  the  nourishment,  and  you  increase  the  labor  of  the 
system.  Nor  is  this  all;  but,  by  this  poison,  you  deteriorate  the 
quality  of  the  nourishment  which  the  system  does  receive.  Amidst 
the  bustle,  excitement,  and  irritation,  which  Alcohol  occasions, 


. 


465]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  11 

the  organs  cannot  furnish  nourishment,  pure  and  healthful  as  they 
otherwise  would.  And  thus  by  a  threefold  process,  you  work  out 
destruction. 

Were  the  human  body  transparent  and  the  operations  of  its 
organs  in  sustaining  life,  visible,  every  man  might  see  that  nature 
itself,  or  rather,  God  by  the  operations  of  his  providence  in  sus- 
taining life,  teaches  that  the  drinking  of  Alcohol  is  wicked,  and 
cannot  be  continued  by  a  man  without  hastening  his  death. 

The  receptacle  for  food  is  the  stomach  and  intestines.  From 
these  after  being  changed,  first  into  chyme,  and  then  into  chyle,  it 
is  taken  up  by  absorbent  vessels  and  carried  into  the  blood,  and 
conveyed  to  the  right  side  of  the  heart.  From  that  it  is  sent  to 
the  lungs;  and  by  coming  into  contact  with  the  air,  and  taking  out 
of  it,  what  it  needs,  in  order,  with  what  it  has,  to  nourish  the 
body,  it  is  sent  back  again  to  the  left  side  of  the  heart.  From 
that,  it  is  sent  in  arteries,  or  tubes,  which  God  has  prepared,  for 
that  purpose  to  all  parts  of  the  body,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
the  nourishment  which  it  contains,  and  which  each  part  needs  to 
its  proper  place.  Along  on  the  lines  of  these  tubes,  or  canals, 
through  which  the  blood,  with  its  treasure  flows,  God  has  provid- 
ed a  vast  multitude  of  little  organs,'  or  waiters,  whose  office  is, 
each  one  to  take  out  of  the  blood,  as  it  comes  along,  that  kind 
and  quantity  of  nourishment  which  it  needs  for  its  own  support, 
and  also  for  the  support  of  that  part  of  the  body  which  is  com- 
mitted to  its  care.  And  although  exceedingly  minute  and  delicate, 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator,  with  the  wonderful  power  of 
doing  this,  and  also  of  abstaining  from,  or  expelling  and  throwing 
back  into  the  common  mass,  what  is  unsuitable,  or  what  they  do 
not  want,  to  be  carried  to  some  other  place,  where  it  may  be  need- 
ed; or  if  it  is  not  needed  any  where,  and  is  good  for  nothing,  to 
be  thrown  out  of  the  body  as  a  nuisance.  And  strange  as  it  may 
seem,  they  are  endowed  with  a  power  of  doing  this,  with  a  pre- 
cision, and  an  accuracy,  and  a  perpetuity  also,  which  led  God 
himself  to  say  of  them,  "very  good."  And  had  they  not  been 
deranged  by  sin,  they  might,  as  a  demonstration  of  the  truth  of 
his  declaration,  have  operated,  like  their  Author,  in  perfection, 
untired,  for  ever. 

For  instance,  the  organs  placed  at  the  end  of  the  fingers,  when 
the  blood  comes  there,  take  out  of  it  what  they  need  for  their  sup- 
port, and  also  what  is  needed  to  make  finger  nails;  while  they  will 
cautiously  abstain  from,  or  repel  that  which  will  only  make  hair, 
and  let  it  go  on  to  the  head.  And  the  organs  on  the  head,  care- 
fully take  out  that  which  they  need  for  their  support,  and  also 
that  which  will  make  hair,  or,  in  common  language,  cause  it  to 
grow.  While  they  will  cautiously  abstain  from  taking  that  which 
is  good  for  nothing,  except  to  make  eye-balls ;  and  let  it  go  to  the 


»2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [466 

eyes,  and  will  even  help  it  on.  And  the  organs,  about  the  eye 
will  take  that  and  work  it  up  into  eyes,  or  cause  them  to  grow. 
And  so  throughout  the  whole.  And  there  is,  among  all  the 
millions  and  millions  of  these  workers,  day  and  night,  all  dili- 
gent in  business,  or  rather  had  they  not  been  invaded  and  assault- 
ed by  sin,  or  something  like  it,  there  would  have  been,  the  most 
entire  and  everlasting  harmony.  And  there  is  also  the  most  deli- 
cate and  wonderful  sympathy.  If  one  member  suffer,  all  the 
members  instinctively  suffer  with  it;  and  if  one  member  rejoices, 
all  the  members  rejoice  with  it. 

And  when  the  blood  has  gotten  out  to  the  extremities  and  been 
to  all  parts  of  the  system  and  left  its  treasures  along  on  the  way,  as 
they  were  needed,  for,  freely  it  has  received  and  freely  it  gives, 
then  there  is  another  set  of  tubes,  or  channels  which  God  has 
opened  and  prepared  to  take  the  blood,  and  with  it,  what  was  not 
needed,  or  was  good  for  nothing,  or  had  been  used  till  it  was  worn 
out,  back  to  the  right  side  of  the  heart.  From  this  it  is  sent 
again  with  its  load  to  the  lungs  for  the  purpose,  by  expiration,  of 
throwing  off  what  is  not  needed,  and  what,  if  retained,  would  only 
be  a  burden  and  do  mischief;  and  also,  by  inspiration,  of  taking 
in  a  new  store,  and  setting  out  again  on  its  journey  round  the  sys- 
tem. And  to  give  it  good  speed,  the  heart,  like  a  steam-engine, 
worked,  not  by  fires  which  men  can  kindle,  but  by  the  breath  of 
the  Almighty,  keeps  constantly  moving,  day  and  night,  summer 
and  winter,  through  storms  and  sunshines,  sickness  and  health,  till 
it  has  landed  the  immortal  passenger,  according  to  his  conduct 
on  the  voyage,  in  an  eternal  heaven,  or  hell. 

Then  there  is  another  set  of  organs,  too  minute,  and  too  nu- 
merous for  any  man  to  number,  whose  office  is,  to  take  up  re- 
fuse matter,  and  which  if  retained  would  be  hurtful,  and  throw  it 
without  the  body.  What  other  organs  reject,  and  thus  show  to 
be  a  nuisance,  these  organs  seize  upon  ;  and  in  the  least  possible 
time,  expel  from  the  system.  By  doing  this,  they  prevent  sick- 
ness and  death. 

From  the  manner  in  which  these  various  organs,  guided,  in 
a  healthy  state,  by  the  instinctive  power  of  their  Author,  treat 
any  substances  which  are  taken  into  the  system,  and  also  from  the 
manner  in  which,  as  they  do  their  office,  these  substances  treat 
them,  and  through  them  the  rest  of  the  body,  we  may  learn  the 
nature  of  those  substances,  and  also  the  will  of  God  with  regard 
to  the  use  of  them.  This  is  the  way  in  which  nature,  or  to 
speak  more  properly,  God,  by  his  providence,  gives  instruction, 
and  makes  known  his  will. 

What  then  is  the  manner  in  which  these  various  organs,  guided 
by  God,  treat  Alcohol?  First  with  regard  to  those  organs  whose 
business  is,  to  select  and  deposit  in   proper  places,   a  suitable 


467]  EIGHTH    REPORT. — 1835.  13 

kind  and  quantity  of  nourishment,  for  the  growth  and  support  of 
the  system;  how  do  they  treat  Alcohol?  Do  they  take  it  up,  and 
use  it,  for  the  purpose  of  making  flesh,  or  bones,  or  any  thing 
by  which  the  body  is  nourished,  beautified,  and  supported?  No; 
they  all  with  one  consent  instinctively,  and  instantly  reject  it.  It 
goes  to  one  class,  and  they  reject  it;  to  another,  and  they  reject 
it;  and  then  to  another,  and  another,  and  so  on,  but  they  all  reject 
it;  and  will  not,  if  they  can  prevent  it,  suffer  it  even  to  stop.  No 
one  will  embrace  it,  or  look  at  it  as  a  friend ;  but  all  view  it  as  an 
enemy,  and  treat  its  coming  as  a  hostile  invasion.  Nor  do  they 
merely  let  it  alone,  but  they  fight  against  it.  This  increases  their 
labor,  and  they  soon  languish.  Nor  does  this  enemy  let  them  alone, 
or  merely  fail  to  benefit  them.  It  fights  against  them,  and  thus 
draws  them  off"  from  their  proper  work,  or  goads  them  on  unmer- 
cifully, till  they  become  frantic.  Having  to  labor  amidst  the  fire 
and  the  fumes  of  an  irritating  and  poisonous  enemy,  the  organs  be- 
come themselves  irritated  and  chafed;  their  sensibilites  are  blunted, 
and  they  do  their  work  badly.  Then  the  parts  of  the  system  which 
are  dependent  on  those  organs,  and  suffer,  through  their  derange- 
ment, begin  to  complain  of  those  organs,  and  they,  provoked, 
retort  back  again.  The  harmony  is  destroyed;  the  kindness  of 
the  system  annihilated,  confusion  ensues,  and  every  evil  work.  In 
their  frenzy  they  bite  and  devour  one  another,  and  are  thus  con- 
sumed one  of  another.  While  the  common  enemy,  is  chased  on 
from  organ  to  organ,  marking  his  course  with  irregularity  of  action, 
and  disturbance  of  function,  and  if  he  cannot  be  expelled,  will 
produce  certain  death.  And  how  is  it  with  the  other  kind  of 
organs,  that  mighty  host,  whose  business  is,  to  watch  for  enemies, 
and  drive  them  out — to  clear  off"  nuisances,  and  expel  poison. 
How  do  they  treat  Alcohol?  Do  they  let  it  alone,  and  suffer  it 
to  remain?  No,  they  would  be  traitors,  should  they  do  that.  But 
they  are  not  traitors,  nor  cowards. — They  seize  upon  it,  and  as 
speedily,  and  thoroughly  as  possible  exclude  it.  And  if  another 
recruit  comes  along,  they  treat  that  in  the  same  way,  and  another, 
and  another.  It  is  a  war  of  extermination ;  to  continue,  if  the 
enemy  continues  to  invade,  as  long  as  life  lasts.  But  mark,  this 
is  all  so  much  extra  labor ;  and  labor  too,  of  a  most  disagreeable 
and  exhausting  kind,  with  a  subtle  and  deadly  foe,  and  in  a  pecu- 
liarly poisonous  atmosphere,  which  that  foe  creates.  And  yet  they 
had  as  much  work  as  they  could  possibly  do,  consistently  with 
permanently  healthful  action,  to  cope  with  only  natural  and  com- 
mon enemies.  And  when  this  artificial  one  comes,  they  are  soon 
crippled,  and  exhausted;  they  cease  to  operate;  or  they  do  their 
ordinary  work,  badly.  Their  food  becomes  unwholesome,  and 
they  grow  sickly.  Their  recuits  fail,  enemies  multiply,  and  take 
strong  holds,  and  keep  possession;  the  territory  is  more  and 
2 


14  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [468 

more  invaded,  till  the  whole  is  conquered,  and  death  and  destruction 
triumph  over  all.  And  this  destruction  is  often  accomplished,  ten; 
twenty,  and  sometimes  fifty  years  sooner  than  even  sin  or  Satan, 
without  Alcohol,  would  accomplish  it.  And  the  poor  soul  is  not 
permitted  to  stay  out  its  probation  on  earth,  by  half  a  century. 

Facts  justify  the  conclusion,  that  Alcohol  has  within  the  last 
thirty  years,  cut  off,  in  the  United  States  more  than  thirty  million 
years  of  human  probation,  and  ushered  more  than  a  million  of 
souls,  uncalled,  and  in  violation  of  the  command,  "thou  shalt  not 
kill,"  into  the  presence  of  their  Maker.  (See  Permanent  Doc- 
uments Am.  Temp.  Soc.  pp.  28,  203,  206,  405,  &c.) 

The  process  by  which  this  is  done,  is  simple,  and  certain.  All 
the  organs  of  the  human  body  have  as  much  work  to  do,  as  is 
consistent  with  permanently  healthful  action,  and  with  the  longest 
continuance  of  human  life,  when  men  take  nothing  but  suitable 
food  and  drink.  And  if,  in  addition  to  this,  you  take  Alcohol, 
and  thus  throw  upon  them  the  additional  labor  of  rejecting  and 
throwing  off  the  poison,  and  at  the  same  time,  as  by  the  taking 
of  it  you  certainly  will,  weaken  and  exhaust  their  energies,  you 
necessarily  shorten  their  duration,  and  commit  suicide  as  really 
as  if  you  did  it  with  arsenic,  a  pistol,  or  a  halter.  It  also  greatly 
increases  the  violence  of  diseases  which  arise  from  other  causes, 
and  often  produces  death,  in  cases  in  which,  had  not  Alcohol  been 
used,  a  cure  might  have  been  easily  and  speedily  effected. 

Nor  is  this  all.  There  is  another  set  of  organs,  whose  office, 
is,  to  furnish  sensibility  to  the  human  system.  For  this  purpose 
they  are  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  whole  body,  and  in  such 
vast  numbers  and  variety,  that  you  cannot  stick  into  the  skin,  the 
point  even  of  the  finest  needle,  and  not  strike  some  of  them,  and 
thus  occasion  pain.  They  seem  to  form  the  link  between  the 
body  and  the  mind,  and  to  be  the  medium  through  which  each 
reciprocally,  and  instantly  acts  upon  the  other.  Of  course  what- 
ever affects  them,  affects  not  only  the  body  but  also  the  soul,  and 
the  influence  which  one  has  upon  the  other. 

Their  seat  is  the  brain.  From  this  they  derive  excitement,  and 
power  to  communicate  it  to  all  parts  of  the  system.  And  in  or- 
der to  furnish  this  excitement,  the  brain  must  itself  be  excited. 
And  what  it  needs  for  this  purpose,  is  that,  and  that  only,  which 
is  furnished  by  arterial  blood,  when  men  take  nothing  but  suita- 
ble food,  and  drink,  exercise,  rest,  and  sleep.  For  this  excite- 
ment it  eagerly  waits,  and  this  it  joyfully  receives;  and  cheerfully, 
with  the  rapidity  almost  of  lightning,  communicates  to  every 
part,  spreading  a  glow  of  animation,  and  making  even  existence, 
especially  amidst  the  exuberance  of  divine  kindness,  a  source  of 
constant  and  exquisite  delight.  But  as  it  stands  waiting  to  receive, 
and  instantly  and  joyfully  to  communicate,  the  bread  and  the 


469]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  15 

milk  of  Heaven,  you  throw  in  Alcohol,  and  thus  instead  of  bread, 
give  it  serpents  ;  instead  of  milk,  scorpions  ;  and  they  go  hissing 
and  darling  their  serpent,  scorpion-like  influence  through  the  whole 
man ;  body  and  soul ;  turning  husbands  into  demons,  and  fathers 
into  fiends  ;  causing  them,  as  it  were,  to  be  born  of  the  devil,  and 
regenerated  for  damnation.  (See  Per.  Temp.  Documents,  p. 
140,  142,  &c.) 

Did  it  destroy  only  the  body,  the  evil  would  be  comparatively 
nothing,  but  the  seat  of  its  mischief,  is  the  soul.  It  cuts  off  its 
probation.  And  this,  if  done  wittingly,  involves  the  soul  in  tre- 
mendous guilt.  Nor  does  it  merely  shorten  its  probation.  It 
enfeebles  its  powers,  corrupts  its  character,  and  aggravates  all  its 
moral  diseases.  It  also  tends  to  counteract  all  the  means  of  divine 
appointment  for  their  removal,  and  thus  to  fix  the  soul  in  perma- 
nent, unending  death.  Not  that  it  tends  to  annihilate  its  existence; 
but  it  tends  to  annihilate  its  excellence  ;  to  annihilate  its  blessed- 
ness, to  annihilate  its  hopes  ;  to  fix  it  in  a  state  of  unutterable  and 
eternal  anguish  ;  and  make  endless  existence,  an  endless  curse  ; 
and  bring  upon  the  soul,  in  the  language  of  the  Bible,  "  the 
second  death." 

This  it  does  in  two  ways,  by  increasing  the  wickedness  of  the 
bouI,  and  by  preventing  its  removal.  In  proof  of  its  increasing 
the  wickedness  of  the  soul,  we  have  only  to  advert  to  the  fact, 
that  vastly  more  who  drink  it,  in  proportion  to  the  number,  be- 
come drunkards,  than  of  those  who  do  not  drink  it ;  and  thus  form 
a  character,  which  God  declares  shall  not  inherit  his  kingdom. 
Vastly  more,  also,  neglect  known  duties,  and  commit  known  sins, 
and  crimes,  of  the  one  class,  than  of  the  other.  (See  Permanent 
Temp.  Documents,  pp.  41,  42,  200,  239,  397,  &c.) 

In  Seneca  County,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  containing  in 
1834,  3,651  families,  and  20,868  individuals,  768  persons  who 
drank  it,  were  drunkards  ;  thus  carrying  the  mark,  should  they 
continue  in  that  course,  of  death  eternal  on  their  foreheads.  In 
seven  towns  in  Yates  County,  in  the  same  State,  containing  3,332 
families,  there  were  694  drunkards  ;  and  in  five  towns  in  Cayuga 
County,  containing  1,254  families,  there  were  242  drunkards, 
about  one  to  twenty  three  of  the  population.  While  in  all  these 
counties,  and  indeed  throughout  the  whole  State,  of  those  who 
did  not  drink  it,  scarcely  a  drunkard,  comparatively,  could  be 
found. 

Nor  is  it  known,  that,  in  those  counties,  Alcohol  has  been  more 
injurious,  in  this  respect,  than  it  has,  upon  an  average,  throughout 
the  country.  And  if  it  has  not,  we  have  in  the  United  States, 
more  than  500,000  drunkards  ;  all  made  such,  by  Alcohol.  And 
we  have,  also,  2,000,000  more,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  using  it ; 
nd  are  thus  exposed  to  form  the  drunkard's  character;  and  become 


16  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [470 

partakers  forever  of  the  drunkards  woes.  While  all  who  do  not 
use  it,  will,  continuing  this  course,  from  all  such  dangers  be  for- 
ever safe. 

In  proof  that  it  leads  men  to  neglect  known  duty,  we  need  only 
advert  to  the  fact  that  more  than  three-fourths  of  all,  in  the  United 
States,  who,  by  such  neglect,  have  been  reduced  to  poverty,  and 
thrown  upon  the  charity  of  the  public  for  support,  have  been 
brought  to  that  condition,  by  the  use  of  it.  (See  Perm.  Temp. 
Documents,  pp.  398,  399,  &c.) 

G.  W.  Welch,  Esq.  Superintendent  of  the  Almshouse  in 
Albany,  N.  Y.  states,  that  there  were,  in  1833,  received  into  the 
Almshouse,  634  persons  ;  viz.  not  intemperate,  1;  doubtful,  17; 
intemperate  616.  There  were  also  in  the  house,  on  the  first  of 
January,  297;  making  in  all,  931.  One  half  that  proportion, 
throughout  the  United  States,  would  make  more  than  200,000. 

Mr.  Guion,  clerk  of  the  Almshouse  in  New  York,  states,  that 
in  addition  to  5,179  persons  supported  in  the  Almshouse  in  that 
city,  there  were  relieved  and  supported  out  of  the  Almshouse, 
19,150  ;  making  in  all,  in  that  city,  relieved  or  supported,  24,329  ; 
and  that  three-fourths  of  this  was  occasioned  by  intemperance. 
One-fourth  of  that  proportion,  throughout  the  United  States, 
would  make  more  than  300,000  ;  four-fifths  of  whose  pauperism, 
is  occasioned  by  Alcohol. 

Mr.  Stone,  Superintendent  for  8  years,  of  the  Almshouse  in 
Boston  says,  "  I  am  of  opinion  that  seven-eighths  of  the  pauper- 
ism in  this  house,  is  to  be  attributed  to  intemperance." 

The  Superintendent  of  the  Almshouse  in  Philadelphia  states, 
that  the  expense  of  supporting  paupers  in  that  institution,  in  1833, 
was  $130,000  :  and  that  90  per  cent,  of  the  amount  was  occa- 
sioned bv  intemperance. 

And  in  proof  that  it  leads  men  to  commit  crimes,  we  need  only 
advert  to  the  fact,  that  more  than  four-fifths  of  those  who  commit 
them,  have  been  in  the  habit  of  acting  under  its  influence.  (See 
Permanent  Temperance  Documents,  pp.  401,  402,  &c.) 

In  the  State  of  New  York  there  were,  in  1833,  9,849  persons 
in  jail.  An  equal  number,  in  proportion  to  the  population,  would 
make  in  the  United  States,  about  70,000.  Nearly  the  whole  of 
them  drank  habitually  of  this  poison,  and  a  great  majority  of  them, 
more  or  less  often,  even  to  drunkenness.  While  from  the  small- 
ness  of  the  number,  in  any  jail,  who  never  drank  it,  or  who  had 
not  done  it  for  two  years,  previous  to  their  commitments,  it  would 
seem,  that  were  it  not  for  this,  jails  would  be  comparatively  need- 

less. 

J.  O.  Cole,  Esq.  Police  Justice  of  Albany,  N.  Y.  states,  that 
2,500  persons  came  under  his  cognizance  in  a  year,  and  that  9fc* 
in  a  hundred  of  the  offences,  were  occasioned  by  intemperance. 


471]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  17 

Mr.  Badlam,  who  was  long  Master  of  the  House  of  Correction 
in  Boston,  says  of  its  inmates;  "three-fourths  were  habitual 
drunkards,  and  the  remainder  mostly  intemperate." 

Mr.  Robbins,  Assistant  Master  says,  of  5,611  persons,  who 
were  there  confined,  "with  very  slight  exceptions,  all  were  in- 
temperate." 

In  the  counties  of  Plymouth,  Bristol,  and  Barnstable,  constitut- 
ing what  is  called  the  "  Old  Colony,"  and  containing  a  population 
of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  no  licenses 
have  been  granted  for  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits,  for  the  last  three 
years.  The  prohibition  has  generally  been  rigidly  enforced,  par- 
ticularly in  New  Bedford,  Plymouth,  and  other  large  towns,  where 
the  sea-faring  population,  and  others  who  are  most  subject  to  the 
evil  consequences  of  the  unrestrained  traffic  in  that  pernicious 
article,  chiefly  congregate.  So  well  satisfied  have  the  people  of 
those  counties  been  with  the  result  of  the  experiment,  that  public 
sentiment  in  its  favor  has  gained  great  strength  under  its  operation; 
and  at  the  recent  election  for  county  commissioners,  full  boards 
were  chosen  who  were  avowedly  opposed  to  the  granting  of 
licenses. 

At  the  recent  session  of  the  courts  in  these  counties,  after  a 
vacation  of  three  months  in  one,  four  in  another,  and  seven  in  the 
other,  there  were  but  two  indictments  in  the  ivhole  of  them,  and 
each  of  these  was  for  a  petty  larceny,  of  less  than  $10  in  amount  I 
and  not  a  single  indictment  has  been  found  for  any  aggravated 
offence. — (Worcester  Spy.) 

And  among  all  the  multitudes  of  idle  and  vicious  persons  who 
go  at  large,  Sabbath  breakers,  gamblers,  thieves,  highway  robbers, 
and  murderers,  few,  comparatively  very  few,  can  be  found,  who 
do  not  habitually  use  it.  It  is  the  grand  instigator,  and  chosen 
companion  of  vice  in  every  form  ;  and  is  thus,  by  its  fruits, 
proved  to  be  a  mighty  agent  in  working  out  human  perdition. 

Nor  is  this  effected  merely  by  the  increase  of  human  wicked- 
ness ;  but  also,  to  a  great  extent,  by  withstanding  and  preventing 
the  efficacy  of  all  means  and  efforts  for  its  removal.  In  proof  of 
this,  we  need  only  look  at  the  fact,  which  is  now  abundantly  es- 
tablished, that  more  than  five  times  as  many,  in  proportion  to  the 
number  of  those  who  do  not  drink  it,  become  apparently,  in  the 
language  of  inspiration,  "  partakers  of  the  divine  nature,  and  escape 
the  corruptions  that  are  in  the  world  through  lusts,"  than  of  those 
who  do.  And  it  is  well  nigh  being  settled  by  facts,  that  where 
the  nature  of  Alcohol  is  understood,  no  person,  who  continues 
habitually  to  use  it,  as  a  drink,  can  rationally  be  expected,  even 
under  all  the  means  of  grace,  to  be  converted  to  God.  (See 
Per.  Tem.  Doc,  pp.  99,  148,  &c.)  Whatever  may  be  the  pres- 
ent appearance,  if  men  continue  habitually  to  drink  it,  their  case 
2*  3 


IB  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [472 

is  comparatively  hopeless.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  use  of 
it  is  abandoned,  and  the  means  of  grace  enjoyed,  the  prospect  of 
their  saving  efficacy,  is  increased  four-fold.  (See  Perm.  Temp. 
Documents,  p.  242,  &c.) 

A  gentleman  from  Tennessee  writes,  that  the  formation  of  a 
Temperance  Society  in  his  vicinity,  was  followed  by  such  a  revi- 
val of  religion,  as  in  those  parts  was  never  before  known.  That 
in  numerous  other  places  where  Temperance  Societies  were 
formed,  they  were  followed  by  the  same  glorious  results  ;  and  that 
in  a  compass  of  about  three  miles,  as  the  result  apparently  of  the 
temperance  reformation,  more  than  three  hundred  persons  were 
hopefully  added  to  the  Lord.  And  so  generally  has  it  been  fol- 
lowed by  such  results,  that  it  is  spoken  of  in  various  countries, 
and  even  on  opposite  sides  of  the  globe,  as  "John  the  Baptist," 
preparing  the  way  of  the  Lord.  (See  Per.  Temp.  Documents, 
p.  374,  &c.) 

Whether  the  reason  of  this  can  be  philosophically  and  satisfac- 
torily explained,  or  not,  the  fact  is  settled  that  intoxicating  liquor, 
tends  from  beginning  to  end,  to  increase  human  wickedness,  and 
also  to  render  that  wickedness  permanent.  The  men,  therefore, 
who  make  it,  and  the  men  who  furnish  it,  to  be  used  as  a  drink, 
are  by  their  whole  influence  in  doing  this,  increasing  the  vices  and 
augmenting  the  woes  of  mankind.  And  though  some  of  them 
profess  to  be  friends  of  temperance,  and  to  wish  to  have  it  prevail 
and  become  universal,  they  are  taking  the  very  course  for  ever  to 
prevent  it.  As  well  might  a  wholesale  dealer  in  counterfeit  money, 
profess  that  he  wishes  to  have  none  but  the  true  coin  circulate,  as 
for  a  man  to  profess  that  he  wishes  to  have  temperance  prevail, 
who  continues  to  furnish  the  most  powerful  means  of  counteract- 
ing it ;  and  also  of  promoting  the  intemperance  which  he  professes 
to  wish  to  have  cease. 

Alcohol  so  affects  the  understanding  that  moral  considerations 
are  less  clearly  perceived;  and  it  so  affects  the  heart,  that  moral 
obligation  is  less  powerfully  felt. — It  causes  the  conscience  to 
lie  more  dormant,  and  the  imagination  to  be  more  extensively  and 
deeply  polluted,  and  polluting.  It  corrupts  the  very  source  and 
springs  of  moral  action,  and  brings  a  man  peculiarly  in  all  respects, 
under  the  power  of  the  devil.  Mental  iniquity,  from  which  the 
mind,  when  not  poisoned,  instinctively  recoils,  becomes,  when  it 
is,  the  element  of  its  delicious  revel;  and  crimes  from  the  thought 
of  which  it  before  started  back  with  abhorrence,  it  now  commits 
with  greediness.  And  so  perfectly  is  this  known,  that,  by  the 
agents  of  him,  who  was  from  the  beginning  "  a  murderer,"  it  is 
furnished  for  (his  very  purpose. 

A  young  man  in  Ireland  committed  a  murder,  in  March,  1833. 
He  was  afterwards  tried  at  Kilkenny,  and  pronounced  by  the  jury 


473]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  19 

to  be  guilty.  "  Yes,  my  Lord,"  said  the  prisoner,  "  I  am  guilty;" 
and  pointing  to  his  mother,  a  woman  of  more  than  eighty  years  of 
age,  who  stood  by,  he  said,  "  She  was  the  cause  of  it."  She 
had  agreed  beforehand,  for  the  price  of  the  blood  of  Mr.  Lennard, 
the  man,  who,  according  to  that  agreement,  was  to  be  murdered, 
by  her  son.  She  watched  for  the  coming  of  the  unfortunate  and 
unsuspecting  man,  and  when  she  saw  him  approaching,  she  handed 
her  son  the  pistol,  with  which  to  take  his  life.  But  there  was  not 
enough  wickedness  and  hardness  in  the  young  man  to  commit  the 
deed.  He  instinctively  shrunk  back,  saying,  "  How  can  I  mur- 
der the  poor  gentleman."  His  mother  handed  him  the  whiskey 
bottle,  which  she  had  got  for  the  occasion,  and  said,  "  Take 
that."  He  took  it,  shot  the  man,  and  was  hanged.  (Br.  Par. 
Rep.  p.  292.)  It  increases  the  wickedness  of  the  soul ;  and 
prepares  it  to  be  led  captive  by  the  adversary  of  all  good,  at 
his  pleasure.  The  men,  therefore,  who  manufacture,  import, 
sell,  or  in  any  way  furnish  it,  to  be  used  as  a  drink,  are  assist- 
ing the  old  murderer  in  the  work  of  human  destruction. 

Another  young  man  who  had  committed  a  crime,  so  horrid  that 
it  was  thought  to  be  incredible,  was  asked  by  the  magistrate  in 
his  examination,  how  it  was  possible,  that  he  could  commit  such 
a  crime?  He  answered,  "With  the  help  of  whiskey  I  could 
commit  twenty  such  crimes."  (Do.  p.  299.)  It  tends  to  remove 
all  difficulties,  arising  from  moral  considerations,  in  the  way  to 
hell;  and  to  keep  its  victim,  till  his  probation  closes,  from  turning 
his  eye  toward  the  path  of  life. 

A  young  man,  who  but  just  escaped  death,  from  the  outrage 
and  brutality  of  a  number  of  persons  who  were  under  its  influ- 
ence, who  was  indeed  supposed  to  be  killed;  and  was  left  by 
them  for  dead,  in  giving  his  deposition,  after  his  recovery,  was 
asked  by  the  magistrate,  whether  they  were  drunk;  he  answered, 
"  No.  They  were  well  able  to  do  their  business."  He  was  then 
asked,  whether  they  had  been  drinking?  He  answered,  "I  won- 
der that  your  honor,  a  gentleman  of  your  knowledge,  should  ask 
such  a  simple  question;  sure  you  do  not  think,  that  they  would 
come  without  preparing  themselves."  So  universally  is  it  now 
understood  to  be  a  needful  preparation  for  all  deeds  of  darkness, 
that  he  wondered  any  one  should  think  that  they  would  attempt 
such  mischief  without  it.  Mr.  Poinder,  in  his  testimony  before 
the  British  Parliament,  states  that  many  criminals  assured  him 
that  it  was  necessary,  before  they  could  commit  crimes  of  pecu- 
liar atrocity,  to  have  recourse  to  this  stimulant;  and  knowing  this 
to  be  the  fact,  they  resorted  to  it  beforehand,  for  no  other  pur- 
pose but  to  fit  themselves.  "I  could  not,"  said  one  of  them, 
"  enter  your  house,  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  take  the  chance  of 
your  shooting  me  in  it,  or  of  my  being  hung  when  I  got  out  of  it, 


20  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [474 

unless  I  was  to  get  well  primed  first."  But  when  a  man  is  under 
its  influence,  he  can,  so  far  as  wickedness  is  concerned,  do  any- 
thing, to  which  his  own  heart  or  Satan  may  tempt  him.  And 
he  can,  and  ordinarily  will,  withstand,  and  for  ever  prevent  the 
saving  efficacy  of  all  the  influences  which  are  brought  to  bear 
upon  him,  to  induce  him  to  become  a  holy  man,  and  to  prepare 
for  the  employment  and  the  bliss  of  heaven.  All  then  that  use 
it,  make  it,  or  furnish  it,  or  are  accessory  to  its  being  used  as 
a  drink,  are  by  this  exerting  an  influence,  which  tends  more 
surely  and  speedily  to  bring  men  to  hell  ;  and  under  which, 
there  is  the  most  unequivocal  and  appalling  evidence  that  mul- 
titudes are  now  on  their  way  to  that  place  of  torment. 

To  save  as  many  of  them  as  possible,  and  especially  to  save 
others  from  following  their  example,  extraordinary  efforts  have 
been  made  within  the  last  few  years,  and  the  Lord  has  crowned 
them  with  the  most  signal  success.  The  object  has  been,  by  the 
diffusion  of  information,  and  the  exertion  of  a  kind  moral  influ- 
ence, to  persuade  men  to  permit  the  evil  of  intemperance  to 
cease,  by  ceasing  to  perpetuate  its  cause.  And  as  this  cause  has 
been  Alcohol,  and  in  the  United  States,  principally  in  the  form 
of  distilled  liquor,  2,000,000  of  persons,  it  is  supposed  in  this 
country  have  already  ceased  to  use  it.  More  than  8,000  Tem- 
perance Societies  have  been  formed,  embracing,  it  is  thought, 
more  than  1,500,000  members.  Twenty-three  of  these  socie- 
ties, are  State  societies;  and  there  is  now  one  in  every  State,  with 
one  exception,  throughout  the  Union.  More  than  4000  distilleries 
have  been  stopped,  and  more  than  8000  merchants  have  ceased 
to  sell  ardent  spirits,  and  many  of  them  have  ceased  to  sell  any 
kind  of  intoxicating  liquor.  More  than  1200  vessels  sail  from  our 
ports,  in  which  it  is  not  used;  and  more  than  12,000  persons  who 
were  drunkards;  and  it  is  supposed  more  than  200,000  other  per- 
sons, have  ceased  to  use  any  intoxicating  drink.  And  the  light  of 
experience  proves,  that  abstinence  from  the  use  of  all  intoxica- 
ting liquor,  as  a  beverage,  is  not  only  safe  but  salutary;  and  that 
it  is  the  only  course,  in  which  it  can  be  rationally  expected,  that 
drunkenness  will  ever  be  done  away.  A  deep  and  solemn  convic- 
tion of  this  truth,  as  a  knowledge  of  the  facts  is  communicated, 
is  rapidly  extending  among  the  friends  of  temperance,  throughout 
the  community.  And  the  number  who  are  in  practice  adopting 
this  course  is  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing.  In  the  pledge  of 
many  societies  the  words  "ardent  spirit,"  has  been  changed 
for  "intoxicating  liquor;"  and  most  of  the  societies  which  have 
been  formed  the  past  year,  especially  among  young  men,  have 
been  formed  on  the  plan  of  abstinence,  from  the  use  as  a  bever- 
age, of  all  intoxicating  liquor.  Nor  is  the  change  which  has  been 
effected,   confined  to  this  country.     In  July  1834,  more  than 


475]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  21 

150,000  in  Great  Britain  had  also  been  embodied  in  Temperance 
Societies.  The  Report  of  the  American  Temperance  Society, 
on  the  immorality  of  laws  which  license  the  sale  of  ardent  spirit, 
had  been  reprinted  in  that  country,  and  a  copy  of  it  distributed  to 
all  the  Members  of  Parliament.  It  has  since,  with  the  previous 
Reports,  been  circulated  extensively  throughout  the  kingdom. 
A  committee  has  also  been  appointed  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, to  inquire  into  the  extent,  causes,  and  consequences  of 
drunkenness;  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  any  Legislative  meas- 
ures can  be  taken  to  prevent  the  continuance  and  spread  of  so 
great  a  national  evil.  This  Committee,  with  power  to  send  for 
persons  and  papers,  were  in  session  more  than  twenty  days,  and 
obtained  answers  from  various  individuals  to  more  than  4,000 
questions.  They  have  also  made  to  Parliament  a  long  and  very 
able  Report ;  which  together  with  the  evidence  on  which  it  is 
founded,  makes  an  octavo  volume  of  nearly  600  pages,  which  has 
been  printed,  and  circulated  extensively  through  the  country. 

The  Chairman  of  that  Committee,  James  Silk  Buckingham, 
Esq.,  in  a  letter  dated  Sheffield,  Jan.  1,  1835,  says,  "The  cause 
of  Temperance  has  advanced  more  rapidly  in  Britain,  within  the 
last  year,  than  in  any  ten  years  preceding.  The  number  of  so- 
cieties has  nearly  doubled,  and  the  number  of  members  increased 
in  a  still  greater  proportion.  Above  all,  the  two  extremes  of 
society,  the  very  rich,  and  the  very  poor,  have  been  brought  to 
think  very  anxiously  on  the  subject ;  though  until  lately,  it  has 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  middle  classes  only."  He  also 
states  that  he  had  visited  Sheffield,  Lincoln,  Hull,  Boston,  Birm- 
ingham, Manchester,  Liverpool,  Greenock,  Glasgow,  Edinburgh, 
Belfast,  and  Dublin,  and  delivered  Temperance  Addresses  in 
each  place.  "The  meetings,"  he  says,  "gave  a  great  impulse  to 
the  circulation  of  the  Parliamentary  Reports,  and  the  printed  evi- 
dence on  which  it  was  founded;  and  the  seed  thus  scattered  is 
every  day  producing  a  rich  and  an  abundant  harvest."  In  another 
letter  dated  March  2d,  1835,  after  speaking  of  his  Temperance 
Mission,  as  he  calls  it,  to  the  above  mentioned  places,  he  says, 
"In  each  of  them,  I  held  several  very  numerous  and  important 
meetings;  none  of  them  less  than  1000,  and  some  of  them  ex- 
ceeding 5000  in  number,  for  the  promotion  of  the  Temperance 
cause;  which  is  making  rapid  progress  in  these  Islands."  He 
then  says  that  on  the  last  Tuesday  in  February,  the  day  appoint- 
ed by  the  American  Temperance  Society,  for  simultaneous  Tem- 
perance meetings,  throughout  the  world,  they  held  a  public  cele- 
bration, of  the  Anniversary  of  Temperance  Societies,  in  London. 
At  the  meeting  were  assembled  of  both  sexes,  not  less  than  1500 
people.  He  opened  the  meeting,  by  giving  them  an  account 
of  his  late  journey  through  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  the 


22  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [476 

information  which  he  had  collected,  and  the  impressions  which 
had  been  made,  while  he  had  been  permitted,  on  his  journey 
personally  to  address,  on  the  subject  of  Temperance,  more  than 
100,000  individuals.  The  meeting  was  then  addressed  by  vari- 
ous other  speakers,  including  officers  of  the  navy,  clergymen  of 
the  established  church,  dissenting  ministers,  and  a  young  Eng- 
lishman who  had  just  returned  from  a  residence  of  several  years 
in  the  United  States.  The  meeting  was  continued  nearly  six 
hours,  and  he  says,  "never  was  there  more  order,  harmony,  and 
even  enthusiasm,  than  prevailed  throughout  the  whole  period." 

In  various  parts  of  that  kingdom  also,  especially  in  Lancashire 
and  vicinity,  numerous  societies  have  been  formed  on  the  plan 
of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks.  The 
effects  have  been  numerous,  extensive,  and  happy.  At  Pres- 
ton, large  and  interesting  meetings  were  held  for  five  evenings  in 
succession,  at  which  the  benefits  of  this  course  were  delineated, 
by  those  who  had,  from  one  to  two  years  made  the  experiment. 
At  two  of  the  meetings,  the  presiding  officer  was  Robert  Guest 
White,  Esq.,  late  sheriff  of  Dublin,  and  at  two  others  P.  H. 
Fleetwood,  Esq. — member  of  Parliament.  At  the  meeting  on 
the  fourth  night,  one  of  the  speakers,  said,  "  Here  stands  before 
you  the  king  of  reformed  drunkards.  I  regret  that  the  Temper- 
ance Society  did  not  start  twenty  years  sooner;  for  had  I  been 
sober,  I  might  have  offered  myself  as  candidate  for  the  borough 
of  Preston  ;  and  been  worth  £10,000.  I  now  thank  God,  that  I 
stand  fast  in  the  liberty  with  which  Temperance  has  made  me 
free."  Another  rose  and  said,  "I  can  now  go  to  bed  and  get 
up  a  sober  man.  Having  made  up  my  mind  to  sign  the  pledge, 
I  met  a  person  from  Sheffield,  as  I  went  down  to  the  Temper- 
ance Hotel,  and  told  him  my  errand.  He  invited  me  to  go  with 
him,  and  take  a  bottle  of  ale.  I  replied,  No;  I  am  determined  to 
go  and  sign,  and  if  100  devils  with  100  daggers  each,  were  to  op- 
pose me,  I  would  press  my  way  against  them.  I  have  now  friends 
on  every  side.  One  tradesman  has  written  me  from  Liverpool, 
offering  me  whatever  I  may  want  ;  another  from  Sheffield  offered 
to  supply  me  with  £50  worth  of  goods,  if  I  would  order  them. 
They  had  heard  that  I  had  joined  this  glorious  cause.  I  rejoice 
in  the  change,  and  I  trust  that  I  shall  stand  firm  as  long  as  I  live." 

Another  by  the  name  of  Johnson,  then  rose  and  said,  "I  am 
indeed  a  brand  plucked  from  the  fire."  He  then  mentioned  that 
during  the  days  of  his  drunkenness,  he  twice  resolved  to  take  his 
own  life;  that  he  once  took  a  razor  for  that  purpose,  but  was  prov- 
identially prevented  from  using  it;  that  he  then  got  a  quantity  of 
laudanum,  mixed  it  with  a  glass  of  ale,  drank  it,  and  lay  down  to 
sleep,  never  expecting  to  open  his  eyes  again  in  this  world. — But 
through  the  mercy  of  the  Lord,  he  was  preserved  ;  was  led  to 


477]  EIGHTH   REPORT. — 1835.  23 

sign  the  pledge,  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquor, 
has  since  been  sober,  has  united  with  a  religious  society,  and, 
said  he,  "  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  say  'Johnson  owes  no  man 
any  thing.'  If  you  mean  to  be  steady  men,  take  up  with  religion, 
and  stand  to  the  cause  like  men." 

Another  said,  "  I  stand  before  you  a  person  who  was  a  drunk- 
ard for  upwards  of  20  years.  I  drank  to  that  excess,  that  I  could 
scarcely  hold  the  glass  to  my  mouth — I  was  destroying  my  health  ; 
could  scarcely  eat  or  sleep,  and  was  reduced  so  low  as  to  have 
hardly  a  chair,  or  a  bed  to  lie  down  upon,  and  was  making  every 
body  miserable  around  me.  I  heard  of  Temperance,  and  in- 
quired what  it  meant.  I  was  told  that  they  taught  men  not  to  get 
drunk.  I  thought  it  was  a  grand  thing  and  I  would  have  a  do 
with  it.  If  it  has  cured  so  many,  I  thought,  why  not  me?  It  is 
now  nearly  18  months  since  I  tasted  any  intoxicating  liquor.  I 
have  laid  out  in  my  house,  and  in  furniture,  above  £20.  I  never 
enjoyed  so  good  a  state  of  health;  we  have  food,  raiment,  and 
contentment ;  and  every  thing  comfortable.  I  go  regularly  to  a 
place  of  worship  and  feel  quite  satisfied.  What !  Temperance 
Societies  done  no  good?  If  they  had  accomplished  nothing, 
more  than  what  they  have  done  for  me,  they  would  be  amply 
repaid  for  their  labor." 

Another  said,  "  I  appear  before  you  a  man  who  has  been  in- 
temperate 35  years,  and  a  temperance  man,  nine  months.  I  was 
told  I  could  not  stand,  but  I  thought  I  would  try.  A  man  had 
better  die,  than  be  a  drunkard.  There  is  no  remedy  for  the 
working  classes  except  to  join  the  tee-total  (the  Temperance  So- 
ciety on  the  plan  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  all  intoxicating 
drinks.)  The  Temperance  Union,  is  the  best  of  all  unions.  I 
feel  a  great  deal  better,  since  I  gave  up  drinking  intoxicating  li- 
quor; and  am  ten  or  fifteen  years  younger,  than  I  was  nine  months 
ago.  The  beer  bill,  which  was  said  to  be  a  benefit  to  the  work- 
ing classes,  was  the  worst  that  was  ever  passed.  Seeing  there  is. 
so  much  intemperance  and  vice,  it  is  time  for  the  magistrate, 
nobility,  gentry,  and  all  sorts,  to  join  the  tee-total." 

Another  said,  "When  I  go  through  the  streets  on  Sunday,  it 
does  my  soul  good,  to  meet  so  many  reformed  drunkards,  well 
dressed,  and  going  to  their  places  of  public  worship.  What  fools 
you  are,  to  cover  the  landlords'  table,  while  you  yourselves  must 
live  on  potatoes  and  salt;  your  children  bare-footed,  and  bare- 
headed, your  coats  out  at  the  elbows,  and  your  trowsers  out  at 
your  knees,  as  mine  used  to  be.  I  called  the  temperance  people 
lools,  but  after  attending  a  meeting  at  the  Moss  school-house,  I 
found  that  I  was  the  fool,  and  that  they  were  wise  men.  I  signed 
the  tee-total,  am  strong  and  hearty,  can  do  my  work  better  than 
ever,  and  am  determined,  to  go  about  preaching  Temperance,  as 
long  as  I  live." 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [478 

Another  rose  and  said,  "  I  was  a  drunkard  29  years,  and  I  am 
sure,  if  there  was  any  good  in  drinking  I  should  have  found  it ; 
for  I  gave  it  a  fair  trial.  I  now  stand  before  you  a  rational  being, 
and  have  been  so  for  twenty  months.  My  house  which  was  a 
house  of  cursing  and  swearing,  is  now  a  house  of  prayer.  How 
can  we  rest  while  our  neighbors  are  going  down  to  hell.  And 
now,  since  the  Temperance  cause  came  into  town,  if  the  land- 
lords will  go  to  hell,  with  a  light  in  their  right  hand,  don't  accom- 
pany them  ;  but  come  with  us,  and  we  will  do  you  good." 

Another  stated  that  he  had  been  intoxicated  for  ten  or  twelve 
days,  previous  to  a  Temperance  meeting,  which  was  held  at 
Manchester  on  the  22d  of  July,  1832.  At  that  meeting  he  said 
to  himself,  "  I  have  spent  forty  years,  and  am  in  this  condition, 
when  I  might  have  been  riding  in  my  carriage."  Three  days  af- 
ter he  attended  another  Temperance  meeting,  and  from  that  time 
abstained  from  all  intoxicating  drink.  He  went  thirty  miles  to 
sign  the  Temperance  pledge,  and  now,  said  he  to  the  audience, 
"  I  have  come  thirty  more  to  tell  you  of  it.  If  I  could  carry  my 
employment  from  Manchester,  I  would  never  go  back  again,  I  am 
ten  years  younger  than  I  was,  two  years  ago." 

Another  said,  "  This  is  a  glorious  meeting,  we  have  got  col- 
liers and  parliament  men.  The  king  will  come  next,  or  if  he 
don't,  we  will  send  for  him. — I  have  been  a  drunkard  eight  years. 
I  signed  the  pledge  ten  months  ago,  and  was  never  so  comforta- 
ble in  my  life.  I  first  signed  the  pledge  for  twelve  months,  and 
when  that  is  up,  I  will  sign  it  for  999  years.  I  can  now  send 
my  children  to  school,  and  go  to  a  place  of  worship  myself.  I'll 
buy  no  more  caps  or  bombasin  gowns  for  landladies,  but  my 
own  wife  shall  have  them." 

Anotiier  said,  "After  five  and  twenty  years  of  intemperance,  I 
now  stand  before  you  in  my  proper  senses.  I  drank  to  such  ex- 
cess, that  I  had  neither  clothes,  nor  shoes  to  my  feet — but  now,  I 
can  appear  in  my  own  clothes,  instead  of  giving  them  to  the  land- 
lords. Take  them  your  money,  and  when  you  have  spent  it, 
they  will  kick  you  out  of  doors.  When  I  signed  the  pledge, 
they  said,  I  should  not  live  two  months  ;  but  I  have  now  exceed- 
ed nine  months,  and  am  better  than  ever.  I  was  generally  known 
by  the  name  of  drunken  Bob;  but  now  they  call  me  Temper- 
ance Bob  ;  and  I  preach  up  Temperance,  and  am  determined  to 
do  so,  wherever  I  go.  My  little  boy,  nine  years  old,  was  brought 
up  to  drink;  but  now  he  will  not  touch  any,  but  says,  My  father 
is  in  the  Temperance  Society." 

Another  said,  "It  is  now  fifteen  months  since  I  have  tasted 
intoxicating  liquor,  and  I  hope,  while  God  gives  breath,  I  shall 
never  taste  again.  I  have  always  been  seeking  this  sobriety,  but 
I  never  knew  how  to  find  it.     I  professed  to  be  religious,  and  I 


479]  EIGHTH  REPORT. 1835.  25 

went  on  twenty  years  mixing  drinking  and  religion  together.  I 
wanted  to  be  sober,  and  my  friends  told  me  to  pray;  but  one  word 
from  your  Advocate  set  me  right.  I  found  that  drunkenness  is  a 
physical  evil;  and  the  way  to  avoid  being  drunk,  is  never  to  taste 
the  liquor  that  produces  drunkenness.  I  attended  the  meeting 
and  said,  Put  me  down  to  the  sweeping  measure;  nothing  else  will 
reach  my  case.  Nothing  but  abstinence  will  suit  this  country; 
and  every  system  that  does  not  go  on  the  basis  of  tee-total,  is 
quackery.  This,  like  the  Whitworth  Doctor,  is  a  cure-all.  I 
never  had  such  a  fifteen  months  before.  I  can  eat,  drink,  and 
sleep,  and  serve  God  consistently;  and  I  am  determined,  sink  or 
swim,  to  stick  by  it.  And  the  most  I  regret  is,  that  nobody 
started  this  twenty  years  ago." 

Another  said,  "I  entered  moderation,  but  I  have  now  been  a 
tee-totaler  one  year  and  one  month.  I  will  never  preach  mode- 
ration, I  will  preach  sound  doctrine.  I  am  determined  to  have 
barley  in  its  full  bloom,  just  as  God  made  and  sends  it.  I  will  not 
have  it  bled,  and  scalded,  and  mashed,  and  its  nose  sprit  out,  like 
an  urchin.  Only  take  off  its  rough  coat,  and  I  will  eat  it  soul  and 
body.  John  Barleycorn  is  good,  but  they  abuse  him,  and  he 
abuses  them  in  return.  I  wish  they  could  not  get  carts  to  cart 
about  those  casks  full  of  murder.  And  these  religious  drinkers 
are  the  worst.  The  scripture  says,  you  should  lay  down  your 
lives  for  the  brethren.  But  these  will  not  lay  down  a  glass  of 
wine  for  their  brethren.  They  will  not  lay  down  that  which  is 
a  source  of  sickness  and  death,  to  promote  the  health  and  life  of 
others.  I  would  abstain  from  any  thing.  If  porridge  (and  I  like 
it  as  well  as  any  thing)  sent  half  as  many  souls  to  hell  as  ale  has 
done,  I  would  lay  down  my  spoon." 

Another  said,  "It  is  owing  to  the  exertion  of  the  Preston 
friends,  that  I  stand  here  a  sober  man.  You  have  now  in  Bolton 
600  abstainers,  and  this  is  a  sufficient  reward  for  your  labors.  I 
knew  an  individual  who  received  a  religious  training,  entered  the 
matrimonial  state  a  sober  man,  by  industry  and  economy  he  accu- 
mulated a  capital,  and  entered  upon  business  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices.  From  taking  one  glass,  he  got  to  two,  or 
three;  and  then  became  a  drunkard.  All  filial  affection  was  gone, 
and  his  children  dreaded  his  appearance.  He  became  a  most  de- 
based drunkard,  and  I  remember  in  one  of  his  last  carousals,  after 
eight  days  drinking,  he  was  taken  up  in  Deansgate  for  dead,  and 
carried  into  a  public  house.  After  some  time,  life  appeared,  and 
he  was  carried  home.  He  afterwards  felt  determined  to  reform, 
or  to  terminate  his  existence.  He  heard  of  the  Temperance 
meeting  in  the  Town  Hall,  on  the  first  of  January,  1834,  and  at- 
tended it  with  his  wife.  He  went  to  the  table,  and  he — no,  not 
he,  but  I,  (for  I  was  the  man)  signed  the  pledge;  and  it  has  been 
3  4 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [480 

kept  inviolable,  to  the  present  day.  It  is  now  my  pleasant  duty 
to  tell  you  of  the  glorious  results.  Some  said  I  should  not  stand 
a  month;  some  gave  me  three  months,  but  I  stand  firm  to  this  day. 
We  have  now  peace  in  our  family;  the  children  have  a  true  affec- 
tion for  their  father,  and  I  go  home  with  pleasure.  For  many 
years  I  was  troubled  with  the  asthma,  but  in  consequence  of 
water  drinking,  I  am  quite  restored.  I  am  now  in  good  health, 
happy  in  my  family,  improving  in  business,  and  enjoying  a  hope 
of  future  bliss.  I  beg  of  you  to  come  forward  and  join  this  glo- 
rious Society." 

Another  rose  and  said,  "It  is  now  two  years  since  I  laid  aside 
intoxicating  liquor;  and  I  feel  stronger  than  I  ever  did  in  my  life. 
I  first  signed  for  12  months,  but  now  I  have  signed  for  ever,  and 
for  ever.  And  I  am  so  grateful  for  the  benefits  I  have  received, 
that  I  am  determined  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  this  cause.  I  have 
three  brothers,  a  wife,  and  a  mother,  all  abstainers.  I  have  been 
anxious  about  my  father-in-law;  and  I  got  a  promise  from  my  wife, 
that  if  he  could  be  brought  in,  I  might  have  full  liberty  to  go 
where  I  would,  preaching  Temperance.  And  though  he  has  been 
a  drunkard  for  35  years,  he  is  now  a  tee-totaler.  The  happiness 
that  temperance  has  brought  into  our  family,  it  is  impossible  to 
describe." 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  the  exhibition  made  at  their  Temperance 
meetings.  At  the  close,  the  chairman,  the  late  sheriff  of  Dublin, 
himself,  signed  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating 
drinks,  and  gave  the  Society  a  donation  of  £  20. 

The  third  annual  meeting  of  the  Preston  Temperance  Society, 
which  has  since  been  holden,  occupied  six  successive  nights. 
The  theatre,  in  which  the  meetings  were  held,  was  crowded  to 
overflowing;  and  the  Youth's  Temperance  Society,  consisting  ol 
969  members  between  14  and  25  years  of  age,  presented  their 
first  Annual  Report.  On  the  third  day,  a  reformed  drunkard 
arose  and  said,  "  My  dear  friends,  this  is  one  of  the  happiest 
hours  in  my  life.  I  am  one  of  those  individuals  who  can  tell  you 
the  difference  between  temperance  and  intemperance.  Another 
year  has  rolled  into  eternity,  and  we  appear  this  night  to  give  an 
account  of  our  stewardship.  Intoxicating  spirit  is  the  greatest 
enemy  to  God  and  man,  whether  found  in  ale,  gin,  porter,  or 
wine.  If  there  be  any  person  more  than  another  that  has  reason 
to  be  grateful  to  the  Temperance  Society,  it  is  myself;  and  I 
could  detain  you  till  midnight  in  declaring  the  blessings  which  tem- 
perance has  brought  to  my  family.  The  seed  of  abstinence  is 
sown,  and  I  have  no  doubt  but  it  will  bring  forth  500  fold.  One 
public  house  I  saw  shut  up  to-day,  and  I  hope  many  others  will 
have  to  follow:  if  they  don't,  they  will  be  compelled  to  it.  If 
there  were  any  here  last  night,  that  were  not  convinced  by  Mr. 


4811  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  27 

Livesey's  lecture,  they  must  have  been  thick-skulls  indeed.  Our 
great  grandfathers  were  deluded,  and  recommended  this  article, 
though  it  has  ruined  so  many — stripped  them  of  their  coats,  waist- 
coats, and  even  their  shirts.  Tee-total  men  are  never  bothered; 
moderate  men  are  continually  bothered,  for  they  never  know  how  to 
take  their  drink.  Being  sent  for  to  the  Castle  Inn  by  a  gentleman^ 
alter  having  refused,  I  at  last  went,  and  being  asked  to  take  a  glass, 
I  replied,  '  Don't  you  know  that  you  are  in  Preston  ?'  If  I  had 
been  of  the  half  and  half  class,  I  should  have  taken  a  sly  glass.  I 
remember  well, engaging  for  a  new  hat  not  to  take  more  than  three 
gills  a  day,  and  the  last  time  I  took  my  three  glasses,  the  devil 
tempted  me  to  take  a  fourth.  I  was  alone,  and  he  said,  '  Nobody 
will  know.'  'No,  no,  honor  bright,'  something  said  within  me; 
and  I  jumped  up  and  run  out  of  the  public  house,  and  I  have 
never  tasted  from  that  day  to  this." 

A  carpenter  then  arose  and  said,  "  This  is  the  first  time  I  ever 
addressed  an  audience  like  this.  Having  been  twenty  years  a 
drunkard,  I  think  it  my  duty  to  make  all  the  reparation  I  can.  I 
have  no  excuse,  for  I  was  brought  up  with  good  moral  and  reli- 
gious instruction.  But  I  was  bound  to  a  trade  where  they  were 
nearly  all  drunkards.  I  got  such  an  appetite  for  ale  that  I  was 
never  satisfied  unless  I  was  at  the  ale  house;  I  loved  ale  so  that  I 
preferred  it  to  any  thing  else.  I  became  an  ale  house  politician, 
a  drunken  reformer,  trying  to  govern  the  nation,  and  yet  not  able 
to  reform  myself.  I  continued  sinning  and  repenting,  and  making 
tnd  breaking  resolution  after  resolution.  I  became  slighted  by 
every  one,  ran  into  debt,  and  my  children  naked.  At  last  I  went 
to  the  Cockpit,  though  I  was  a  coward,  and  ashamed  of  others' 
noticing  me.  I  signed  moderation,  but  became,  I  think,  more 
immoderate  than  before.  After  trying  in  vain  to  temper  myself, 
at  last  I  signed  the  tee-total,  and  I  cannot  make  you  believe  the 
pleasure  I  found.  I  am  now  determined  never  to  taste  again.  Ask 
my  employers  whether  I  cannot  work  better;  ask  my  fellow  work- 
men also;  and  I  am  sure  I  look  a  great  deal  better.  Nobody 
could  believe  what  satisfaction  I  feel." 

Another  rose  and  said,  "  You  see  before  you  a  reclaimed  Li- 
verpool drunkard.  From  the  age  of  14  to  23,  I  sank  in  the  depths 
of  drunkenness.  My  father  bound  me  an  apprentice  to  a  respect- 
able merchant  in  Liverpool.  I  soon  got  acquainted  with  drunken 
companions,  and  became  acquainted  with  free  and  easy  societies. 
On  one  occasion,  I  had  £  15,  and  I  went  with  a  comrade  for  a 
glass;  I  staid  three  days  and  nights,  and  came  away  with  only  5s. 
in  my  pocket.  I  was  disowned  of  my  father,  and  I  ran  away.  At 
last,  my  father,  as  a  punishment,  bound  me  to  a  bricklayer,  and 
here  I  was  again  in  the  midst  of  drink.  At  last  I  was  persuaded 
to  join  the  Temperance  Society,  but  it  was  a  Moderation  Society, 


28  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [A&2 

and  it  threw  me  further  into  hell  than  ever.  At  last,  about  seven 
or  eight  months  since,  I  joined  the  tee-total,  and  never  was  so 
happy  in  my  life  as  I  have  been  from  that  day.  I  have  got  my 
character  back  ;  my  father  can  now  trust  me  with  the  rent  book; 
I  am  now  in  business  for  myself,  and  doing  well.  Though  for 
some  time  the  rulers  of  the  Welsh  Church  of  Calvinistic  Me- 
thodists, to  which  I  belong,  opposed  the  tee-total  pledge,  yet  they 
are  now  more  favorable.  We  have  formed  a  society  upon  the 
tee-total  principle,  and  in  three  weeks  we  have  got  30  names.  I  will 
stick  to  the  cause  as  long  as  I  live;  and  such  is  my  peace  of  mind, 
that  if  any  person  were  to  offer  me  a  thousand  a  year  to  forsake  my 
pledge,  I  would  spurn  the  offer.  I  mean  to  do  all  I  can  to  benefit 
others.  There  is  a  young  man,  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  who 
spent  $1500  in  three  years,  and  reduced  himself  to  beggary.  I 
spoke  to  him  and  teased  him  till  at  last  he  has  joined,  and  since 
then  he  has  got  a  situation  of  $150  a  year.  My  whole  course 
of  life  is  now  changed;  I  am  now  getting  up  my  head;  and  I  wish 
that  tee-total  may  flourish  as  long  as  I  live." 

A  carter  then  rose  and  said,  "  Instead  of  being  here,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  temperance,  I  might  have  been  chained  down  in  the 
lockup.  I  am  well  known;  I  have  been  a  faithful  servant  to  the 
landlords  for  14  years,  and  a  rascal  to  my  wife.  Now  I  am  as 
happy  as  any  man  alive;  and  for  these  13  months  I  have  enjoyed 
more  pleasure  than  I  did  in  all  my  life  before.  I  have  punished 
my  family  shamefully;  my  children  were  all  naked;  I  got  money 
enough,  sometimes  £b  a  week;  but  if  I  had  got  £10  a  week,  and 
worked  for  a  hundred  years,  it  would  have  been  no  better.  Thank 
God  that  temperance  ever  came  to  Bamber  Bridge!  My  children 
are  not  now  without  clogs,  and  shirts;  with  stockings  torn  up:  no, 
they  are  well  clothed.  I  started  this  morning  at  3  o'clock,  and 
have  been  a  long  journey,  and  I  am  now  as  fresh  as  a  lark.  I  nev- 
er was  so  well  in  my  life,  and  my  house,  which  was  hell,  is  turned 
into  heaven  with  tee-total.  A  landlord  one  day,  to  whom  I  had 
sold  a  load  of  coals,  ordered  his  wife  to  fetch  me  up  a  quart  of  the 
best  ale:  he  filled  a  glass  and  held  it  up  to  the  window.  "Did 
thou  ever  see  any  thing  so  nice?  take  hold  and  drink."  I  an- 
swered, "No,  I  defy  thee,  Satan;"  and  then  as  he  could  not  get 
me  to  drink,  he  began  to  praise  me  for  my  sobriety.  Ah!  if  you 
were  to  see  my  house  now!  we  have  had  13  months  of  tee-total, 
and  we  have  every  thing  we  want.  Thank  God,  we  have  plenty 
of  beef  and  puddings.  I  like  coffee  and  beef:  it  is  a  capital  thing 
to  travel  on.  Come  forward,  all  of  you,  and  join  this  glorious 
cause." 

Next  rose  a  spinner,  and  said,  "Drunkards  are  the  greatest 
slaves.  I  began  drinking  at  footings  and  other  stirs;  and  though 
but  a  lad,  I  used  to  think  myself  a  man.     Since  I  was  married,  I 


485]  EIGHTH  REPORT. — 1835.  29 

have  been  turned  out  of  house  five  times.  Although  I  had  a  wife 
and  but  one  child,  drinking  brought  me  to  the  workhouse,  and  to- 
breaking  stones  at  the  canal  side.  However,  I  got  to  spinning 
again;  and  was  turned  off  again.  I  ran  away  to  Manchester,  and 
left  my  wife  and  two  children,  both  of  them  sick.  Solomon  says> 
"Who  hath  wo?  who  hath  wounds  without  cause?  They  that 
tarry  long  at  the  wine!"  I  had  many  a  time  black  eyes,  and  arms, 
and  shins,  all  through  drinking.  At  last  I  came  to  Preston,  and 
found  two  of  my  brothers  tee-totalers.  I  was  led  with  seeing 
them  to  think  about  it,  and  on  Whit-Tuesday  I  entered.  Plenty 
of  debts  coining  against  me,  and  law  upon  law,  ay,  wheel  bar- 
rows full  of  law,  but  I  thought  the  Lord  is  sufficient  to  bring  me 
through.  I  have  begun  to  pay  something  tQwards  my  old  debts. 
Jack  is  here  after  all,  and  thank  God  that  ever  I  got  on  the  Tem- 
perance Ship.  I  have  signed  for  life.  Am  but  25  years  of  age; 
but  if  I  live  25  hundred  years,  I  mean  never  to  drink  again. 
We  are  three  brothers  of  us;  and  we  have  not  only  joined 
Temperance;  but  we  also  sail  on  the  gospel  ship:  we  all  go  to  the 
chapel,  and  we  are  making  our  way  to  Canaan's  happy  shore.  The 
Lord  of  heaven  help  you  to  come  and  join  the  tee-total,  and  stick 
to  it." 

Another  spinner  then  rose  and  said,  "I  was  a  drunkard  11 
years,  but  I  signed  the  tee-total,  and  have  kept  it  eleven  months,  a 
fortnight  and  one  day.  1  used  to  get  drunk  at  footings  and  room- 
ings; and  I  followed  on  drinking  and  carousing.  I  'listed  for  a 
soldier,  and  was  bought  off  again.  I  continued  drinking,  fre- 
quently lost  my  work,  writh  my  clothes,  in  the  pop-shop.  I  hired 
into  the  militia,  but  I  got  enough  of  soldiering.  This  way  I  car- 
ried on  till  11  months  and  a  fortnight  since,  when  I  signed  the  tee- 
total; and  from  that  time  I  never  enjoyed  so  much  happiness  in 
all  my  life.  I  am  now  respected  and  in  good  credit,  and  I  can 
serve  God  as  I  ought  to  do.  If  you  will  ask  my  wife,  she  will 
tell  you.  [Here  a  pleasant  voice  from  the  boxes  was  heard,  which 
excited  rapturous  applause,  something  to  the  following  effect: 
"  Yes,  thou  has  plenty  of  credit  now;  thou  has  not  so  many  at- 
torney's letters  as  thou  used  to  have;  and  I  like  thee  better  than 
ever  I  did."]  Come  forward  and  sign;  do  as  I  have  done.  I  am 
now  happy  for  this  world,  and  am  hoping  for  life  eternal." 

Such  was  a  specimen  of  the  addresses  from  this  class  of  speakers 
at  those  meetings.  And  it  was  stated  by  respectable  gentlemen, 
that  the  last,  was  the  sixth  assizes,  at  which  there  had  not  been  a 
single  case  of  felony  from  Preston.  With  such  facts  before  him, 
who  can  doubt,  as  to  the  course  of  safety,  interest,  and  duty?  Let 
men  cease  to  use  that  which  intoxicates,  and  while  health,  virtue, 
and  happiness  will  be  greatly  promoted,  drunkenness  and  all  its 
evils  will  be  universally,  and  for  ever,  done  away.  More  than 
3* 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [4S4 

twelve  millions  of  drunkards  would  become  sober  men,  and  more 
than  fifty  millions,  who  are  now  on  the  way  to  drunkenness,  would 
escape  that  awful  doom. 

The  Chairman  of  the  Parliamentary  Committee,  in  his  Address 
at  Liverpool,  stated  that  he  had  himself  sailed  to  the  East  and  the 
West,  in  hot  weather,  and  in  cold,  and  that  he  never  found  any 
benefit  from  that  enervating,  disorganizing,  and  destructive  poison; 
which,  wherever  it  found  an  entrance,  was  always  sure  to  be  pro- 
ductive of  mischief.  He  afterwards  became  aland  traveller.  He 
had  passed  through  Egypt,  and  Palestine,  and  Mesopotamia,  and 
Arabia;  and  afterwards  settled  in  India,  where  he  lived  six  years. 
In  the  course  of  these  journeys,  he  passed  twice  to  India,  and 
back  again  by  land;  and  travelled  not  less  than  30,000  miles.  He 
visited  the  cities  of  Cairo,  Damascus,  Aleppo,  Ispahan,  &c, — - 
and  in  his  tours,  had  seen,  it  was  supposed,  more  than  3,000,000 
people.  Of  course  he  had  had  a  very  extensive  opportunity  to 
witness  the  different  habits  of  men;  and  he  had  never  known 
them  to  be  in  any  respect,  benefited  by  the  use  of  strong  drink. 
Nor  had  he  ever  known  any  people  who  had  adopted  the  use  of  it, 
among  whom  it  had  not  been,  in  proportion  to  that  use,  detrimen- 
tal. He  also  stated,  that  the  finest  race  of  men  he  had  ever  seen, 
were  a  tribe  residing  on  the  Himalaya  Mountains  in  India.  They 
came  down  to  Calcutta  as  Jlthletae,  to  show  their  skill  in  wres- 
tling, boxing,  throwing  the  quoit,  and  other  athletic  exercises. 
They  were  pitted  against  British  grenadiers  and  sailors,  the  strong- 
est that  could  be  found.  The  result  was,  that  one  of  these  men 
was  more  than  a  match,  for  any  three  that  could  be  brought  against 
them;  and  they  had  never  tasted  any  drink,  from  their  infancy 
upwards,  stronger  than  milk,  or  water.  He  had  himself  travelled 
from  Diabekir  to  Bagdad,  a  distance  of  800  miles  on  horseback, 
in  ten  days;  with  the  thermometer  ranging  from  100  at  sunrise, 
to  125  degrees  in  the  afternoon;  without  injury,  and  without  any 
drink,  but  water.  During  his  arduous  labors  in  Parliament,  and 
during  his  recent  tour  of  2,400  miles,  in  the  course  of  which,  he 
had  lectured  six  nights  in  the  week,  in  towns  frequently  80  or  100 
miles  apart,  he  had  tasted  nothing  but  water,  and  yet  those  who 
heard  him,  one  night,  would  perceive  no  essential  difference  in 
him  should  he  continue  a  similar  course  for  six  months  together. 
(Preston  Temp.  Advocate.) 

At  a  general  Conference  of  Deputies  from  the  various  Tem- 
perance societies  in  Lancashire,  and  the  adjoining  counties,  held 
at  Manchester,  Sept.,  24,  1834,  it  was,  after  discussion  and  delib- 
eration, unanimously  "  Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient,  in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  this  country,  for  the  purpose  of  united  and  efficient 
exertions,  that  the  societies  in  this,  and  the  adjoining  Counties, 
adopt  a  pledge  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors." 


485J  EIGHTH    REPORT.  — 1835.  31 

The  experiment,  so  far  as  it  has  been  adopted,  has  succeeded  to 
admiration;  and  should  it  become  universal,  it  would  cause  drunk- 
enness, and  with  it  the  greatest  cause  of  pauperism,  crimes,  and 
wretchedness  to  cease.  It  would  also  prepare  the  way  for  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  elevation  of  the  whole  community;  and  in  all 
respects,  promote  the  highest  good  of  the  country. — They  have 
also  established  a  monthly  publication  called  the  Preston  Tem- 
perance Advocate,  which  urges  strongly  the  adoption  of  the  doc- 
trine of  abstinence,  from  the  use,  as  a  drink,  of  all  intoxicating 
liquors. 

The  following  is  an  Address  from  thirty  Mechanics,  who  were 
drunkards,  to  the  drunkards  and  tipplers  of  Great  Britain. 

"TIPPLERS,  DRUNKARDS,  AND  BACKSLIDERS! 

Friends! — You  are  miserable  and  wretched,  both  in  body,  soul 
and  circumstances;  your  families  and  friends  are  suffering  through 
your  folly;  you  have  no  peace  here,  and  can  have  no  peace  here- 
after; and  all  this  proceeds  from  the  delusive,  maddening  habit  of 
drinking  intoxicating  liquors.  You  are  told  that  these  liquors  do 
you  good.  It  is  a  falsehood,  invented  and  propagated  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  your  money.  Judge  of  the  good  they  have 
done,  by  the  effects  which  they  have  produced  upon  yourselves 
and  others.  Oh!  shun  the  public  house  as  you  would  do  a 
plague,  and  the  company  of  drunkards  as  you  would  a  gang  of 
robbers. 

Friends! — We  were  once  drunkards,  and  most  of  us  were  in 
the  same  wretched  condition  as  yourselves;  but  being  reclaimed, 
we  are  anxious  for  you  to  enjoy  the  same  liberty  and  blessings 
which  we  enjoy.  We  are  now  happy;  our  wives  are  comfort- 
able; our  children  are  provided  for;  we  are  better  in  health,  bet- 
ter in  circumstances;  we  have  peace  of  mind;  and  no  tongue  can 
tell  the  comfort  we  have  enjoyed  since  we  became  consistent 
members  of  the  Temperance  Society.  Ale  and  strong  drink  have 
slain  more  than  war  or  pestilence;  and  while  we  refuse  no  kind  of 
food  or  drink  which  God  hath  sent,  we  abstain  from  all  diluted 
poison,  manufactured  to  ruin  mankind,  and  to  rob  our  country  of  its 
greatness.  We  have  seen  our  delusion,  and  tve  noio  drink  nei- 
ther ale,  wine,  gin,  rum  nor  brandy,  nor  any  kind  of  intoxica- 
ting liquor.  There  is  no  safety  for  you  nor  us  but  in  giving  it 
up  entirely.  Come  forward,  then,  ye  tipplers,  drunkards  and 
backsliders!  attend  our  meetings,  and  be  resolved  to  cast  off  the 
fetters  of  intemperance;  and  once  and  for  ever  determine  to  be 
free. 


JOHN  BILLINGTON,  weaver. 
JOHN  BRADE,  joiner. 
RICHARD  BRAY,  fishmonger. 
ROBERT  CATON,  spinner. 
WILLIAM  CATON,  spinner. 


WILLIAM  GREGORY,  tailor. 
GEORGE  GREGSON,  plasterer. 
JOHN  GREGSON,  mechanic. 
WILLIAM  HOWARTH,  sizer. 
ROBERT  JOLLY,  sawyer. 


82 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY. 


[486 


WILLIAM  MOSS,  mechanic. 
MARK  MYERS,  shoemaker. 

H.  NEWTON,  mole-catcher. 

T.  OSBALDESTON,  moulder. 
ROBERT  PARKER,  moulder. 
WILLIAM  PARKINSON,  clog?er. 
JOSEPH  RICHARDSON,  shoemaker. 
RICHARD  RHODES,  weaver. 
JAMES  RYAN,  spinner. 
RICHARD  SHACKELTON,  spinner. 
SAMUEL  SMALLEY,  spinner. 


JOSEPH  SMIRK,  moulder. 

JAMES  SMITH,  spinner. 

GEORGE  STEAD,  broker. 

THOMAS   SWINDLEHURST,  roller  ma- 

RANDAL  SWINDLEHURST,  mechanic. 
JOHN  THORNHILL,  cabinet-maker. 
RICHARD  TURNER,  plasterer. 
JOSEPH  YATES,  shopkeeper. 
WILLIAM  YATES,  weaver. 

Preston,  Dec.  27,  1834." 


A  gentleman  from  Liverpool  writes,  "thousands  are  turning 
their  attention  to  the  subject,  that  never  troubled  themselves  be- 
fore about  it.  Light  and  knowledge  are  spreading  far  and  wide. 
Tracts,  Addresses,  Recorders,  Reports,  both  American  and  Eng- 
lish, are  circulating  through  the  country.  Temperance  Societies 
are  springing  up  in  every  town  and  village.  Men  of  talent,  learn- 
ing and  independence,  are  devoting  their  time,  their  talents, 
and  their  money,  to  the  cause.  Mr.  Buckingham,  M.  P.  is  trav- 
elling through  the  country,  lecturing  to  multitudes,  arousing  the 
people  to  a  sense  of  their  danger  from  the  inroads  of  the  enemy, 
(the  Bloated  Monster.)  Conscientious  men,  who  are  dealing  in 
spirituous  liquors,  are  beginning  to  feel  uneasy,  wishing  they  were 
not  in  the  business,  don't  know  what  to  do.  The  business  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  disreputable.  Diana  is  tottering  on  her 
pedestal,  and  I  trust  ere  long  she  will  fall,  and  great  will  be  the 
fall  thereof.  England  shall  be  delivered  ;  God  is  for  it,  who  shall 
fight  against  it,  and  prevail?  Let  infidels  scoff",  let  the  profane 
sneer,  and  swear,  and  rave,  and  let  his  companion,  the  drunkard, 
put  his  shoulder  to  the  pedestal  of  the  idol,  God  will  mock  at 
their  puny  efforts;  down  she  must  come,  and  beneath  the  ruins, 
cover  with  shame  and  confusion  the  persevering  upholders  of  the 
Idol,  a  system  which  is  a  source  of  crime,  of  misery,  poverty 
and  death,  temporal  and  eternal.  Down  must  come  the  greatest 
machine  the  enemy  of  souls  has  at  work,  in  this  our  world,  for 
transforming  men  to  devils,  and  hurling  them  to  perdition,  into 
outer  darkness,  into  eternal  night,  where  the  smoke  of  their  tor- 
ment ascends  for  ever  and  for  ever,  and  where  there  is  fruitless 
weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 

In  Sweden  also  the  cause  continues  to  prosper;  and  it  has  begun 
to  excite  attention  and  to  lead  to  action,  in  Denmark  and  Finland. 
From  the  latter  country  a  gentleman  writes,  "  The  effects  of 
drinking  brandy  are  horrible;  and  not  only  with  the  vulgar,  but 
also  with  the  people  of  rank  ;  and  not  with  hearers  only,  but  even 
with  priests.  In  such,  Satan  reigns  supreme;  and  from  this  result 
innumerable  spiritual,  as  well  as  temporal  evils.  As  for  the 
temporal,  poverty  is  the  inseparable  companion  of  the  drunkard. 
He  makes  himself,  his  wife,  and  his  children  beggars  and  vaga- 
bonds     As  to  spiritual  things,  such  a  man  is  the  slave  of  Satan. 


487]  EIGHTH    REPORT. — 1835.  33 

Every  thing  which  has  been  attributed  to  our  nature  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  may  justly  be  attributed  to  him.  (See  Gal.  v.  19 — 
21.)  The  evil  consequences  of  this  sin  are  innumerable.  May 
God,  who  knows  our  miserable  state,  in  some  way  grant  us  aid." 
Some  publications  have  been  sent  to  him  pointing  out  the  easy 
and  certain  cure  of  all  these  evils,  by  simply  ceasing  to  perpetu- 
ate their  cause.  And  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  time  is  not  distant, 
when  the  application  so  easy  and  efficacious,  shall  be  as  life  from 
the  dead,  to  all  the  northern  nations  of  Europe. 

From  Russia  a  gentleman  writes,  that  these  publications  have 
already  been  translated  into  three  languages,  the  Russ,  the  Estho- 
nian,  and  the  Finnish;  and  that  they  are  circulated,  through  that 
vast  Empire;  and  even  to  the  borders  of  Persia  and  China.  He 
adds,  "  How  wonderful  that  the  first  tracts,  on  that  dreadful  vice 
of  intemperance,  should  have  been  published  in  this  country,  in 
three  languages,  and  circulated,  chiefly  through  the  instrumentality 
of  American  Christians.  And  how  delightful  to  observe  the 
sameness  of  effect  every  where  produced,  where  this  all-impor- 
tant subject  is  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  reflecting  part  of  the 
community.  By  the  communications  which  I  herewith  send  you, 
you  will  see  how  the  monster  Intemperance  is  viewed  and  dreaded 
universally,  as  the  destroyer  of  the  hopes  of  man.  And  how 
remarkable  it  is,  that  the  exertions  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society,  should  have  been  the  means,  under  God,  of  arousing 
Christians,  in  every  part  of  the  world,  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  on 
this  deeply  interesting  subject.  You  will  see  how  rapid  has  been 
the  sale  of  our  edition  of  "The  Advantages  of  Drunkenness;" 
and  we  are  now  preparing  a  larger  tract,  in  which  the  subject 
will  be  brought  home  to  every  family." 

And  he  says,  "  I  never  knew  a  Russian  peasant,  or  poor  man, 
refuse  a  tract.  I  never  knew  one  to  ridicule  or  speak  contemp- 
tuously of  religion.  Every  where  in  the  country,  tracts  are  re- 
ceived and  read  with  avidity,  and  from  all  quarters  we  hear  that 
much  good  is  done  by  them." 

And  the  gentleman  above  referred  to  from  Finland,  writes,  con- 
cerning the  tracts  on  drunkenness,  which  had  been  distributed 
in  that  country,  "  Wives  read  them  to  their  husbands,  and  chil- 
dren read  them  to  their  parents;  and  many  have  derived  benefit 
from  them.  The  Finnish  tracts,  I  trust,  will  do  great  good 
here." 

Nor  are  the  effects  confined  to  Europe.  From  Chunar  in  In- 
dia, the  Conducter  of  Ordnance  in  that  place,  writes,  "Soon  as 
I  received  the  tracts  on  Temperance,  I  was  not  easy  till  we  had 
formed  a  society  here;  and  I  set  about  it  immediately.  I  went 
to  the  chaplain  of  the  station,  and  presented  him  with  some 
tracts.     He  read  them,  and  the  effect  was,  that  in  a  short  time 

5 


34  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [488 

afterwards,  he  ordered  his  servants  to  take  all  his  spirituous  li- 
quors, and  pour  them  into  the  flood.  This  he  saw  done,  and 
then  joined  the  society.  And  we  are  now  in  a  flourishing  state, 
as  a  Temperance  Society.  I  have  sent  tracts  to  all  parts  of 
Bengal,  where  I  have  friends  residing,  and  I  do  hope  that  many 
Societies  will  be  formed." 

From  Burmah,  a  gentleman  writes,  "  Every  man,  woman,  and 
child  should  wage  unceasing  war  with  all  intoxicating  drink.  It 
is  surprising  that  we  were  so  long  in  league  with  this  disgusting  and 
hateful  poison.  How  many  it  has  reduced  to  nakedness  and  hun- 
ger; how  many  it  has  entombed  in  an  early  grave;  and  how  many 
it  has  brought  to  the  lowest  hell.  When  I  think  of  the  lying, 
stealing,  fighting,  robbing,  murdering,  and  all  the  endless  crimes 
that  follow  in  its  train,  I  am  astonished  that  we  were  so  long  blind. 
The  Pagan  makes  an  idol  and  worships  it.  He  calls  his  wife  and 
she  worships  it,  and  then  his  children,  and  they  worship  it.  All 
pronounce  it  good.  Your  father  did  so,  and  you  must.  Your 
father  was  stupid  and  mad,  and  you  must  be  so  too.  So  with  liquor. 
The  drinking  father  reels  to  the  grave,  and  the  drinking  son  fol- 
lows. Fools  tread  on  the  heels  of  fools,  drunkenness  shakes 
hands  with  drunkenness,  and  death  and  hell  open  wide  their  arms, 
greedy  for  their  prey.  He  who  drinks  little  is  a  madman,  and 
he  who  drinks  much,  a  demoniac.  Let  every  person  who  loves 
sobriety,  honesty,  or  virtue,  peace  at  home,  or  peace  abroad,  a 
clear  conscience  in  life,  or  consolation  in  death,  come  out  openly 
on  the  side  of  total  abstinence.  This  is  the  only  wise  or  safe 
course.  I  look  upon  him  who  encourages  intemperance,  as  the 
vilest  of  the  vile.  He  stabs  innocent  children,  and  sends  the 
grief-stricken  wife  and  mother  to  the  grave.  He  turns  orphans 
naked  and  hungry  into  the  street,  while  he  digs  the  grave  of 
their  father.  The  wolf  is  his  sister,  and  the  tiger  his  father.  He 
fattens  upon  the  carcasses  of  his  fellows.  Oh,  when  shall  the 
spell  be  broken,  and  the  delusion  wholly  cease!" 

From  Batoe,  off  the  West  coast  of  Sumatra,  a  gentleman 
writes. 

"  My  heart  is  sick  unto  death,  with  seeing  the  glass  filled  and 
emptied  before  breakfast,  with  breakfast,  at  eleven  o'clock,  before 
dinner,  with  dinner,  and  continually  after,  till  bedtime.  Wher- 
ever I  have  been  in  India,  wine  is  placed  on  the  table  in  the 
morning;  when  the  table  is  cleared  away,  the  decanter  stand 
of  strong  drink  makes  its  appearance.  With  the  dinner,  wine 
and  strong  drink  are  abundant ;  and  after  dinner,  again  the  strong 
stuff".  It  was  formerly  so  pernicious  at  Padang,  that  it  obtained 
the  Malay  name  of  Pakoe,  (a  nail)  because  the  people  said  it 
drove  one  more  nail  into  their  coffins.  It  was  pakoe  with  a 
yengance." 


489]  EIGHTH   REPORT. — 1835.  35 

But  he  adds,  "  The  influence  of  the  American  Temperance 
Society  has  been  felt  here.  It  has  made  the  old  monster  sin, 
tremble  on  his  throne,  even  in  this  distant  foreign  land.  There 
is  a  state  of  interest  waked  up  that  ought  to  be  cherished  ;  and  a 
spark  kindled  that  ought  to  be  fanned  to  a  flame.  I  dined,  and 
spent  some  time  with  his  Excellency  the  Governor  General;  and 
almost  all  the  time  I  could  spare  from  my  own  business,  was  em- 
ployed by  him  in  making  inquiries  concerning  the  Temperance 
movements  in  the  United  States:  thus  placing  this  great  move- 
ment in  the  Western  hemisphere,  before  all  other  objects.  In 
every  place  where  I  have  not  introduced  the  subject,  the  people 
have  done  it.  Our  Temperance  Ships,  and  Temperance  Cap- 
tains and  Supercargoes,  have  done  wonders.  They  would  be 
astonished  themselves  to  see  how  a  little  seed  of  example,  sown 
by  the  way  side,  has  taken  root,  and  promises  to  bear  fruit  with 
the  luxuriousness  of  an  equinoctial  plant. 

The  spirit  which  laid  the  foundation  of  the  majestic  superstruc- 
ture which  is  so  fast  rising  in  the  new  world,  to  the  admiration 
of  the  old,  was  not  merely  a  spirit  of  patriotism,  but  a  sister  in  the 
same  family  of  the  other  great  benevolent  institutions,  which  are 
so  many  suns  in  your  Western  hemisphere.  It  was  based  on 
philanthropy.  The  cause  in  which  it  is  enlisted,  is  the  renovation 
of  morals,  and  the  elevation  of  the  human  mind,  not  only  in  Amer- 
ica, but  wherever  it  is  enslaved.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  United 
States,  but  it  must  not  have  its  end,  till  it  has  circumnavigated  and 
blessed  the  entire  ivorld.  And  now  what  can  the  American  Tem- 
perance Society  do  for  India?  It  must  flood  the  country  with 
printed  documents.  They  are  cheap  as  dirt  in  America,  compar- 
ed with  their  price  in  this  part  of  the  world  ;  and  there,  they  come 
from  the  warmth  of  feeling  hearts  and  speaking  pens.  Ships  are 
coming  here  continually,  and  they  can  bring  any  quantity.  If  no 
one  else  offers  as  an  agent,  send  them  to  me ;  and  I  will  send 
them  to  every  civil,  military,  and  missionary  station,  and  to  every 
commercial  place  in  which  are  men,  who  can  read  the  English  lan- 
guage. They  are  needed  for  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant;  but  most  of  all  for  the  for- 
mer classes.  We  want  the  whole  system  and  its  blessed  effects, 
spread  out  before  the  people.  They  are  anxious  to  know  what  it 
is,  and  how  it  is.  I  would  advise  that  a  splendidly  bound  set  of  all 
the  Society's  publications,  be  sent  to  his  Excellency  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Batavia.  If  the  Society  have  not  funds  to  supply  the 
wants  of  a  bleeding,  suffering  world,  will  not  some  individuals  do 
it?  If  not  gratuitously,  let  them  be  sent  for  sale.  But  I  am  con- 
fident that  when  the  wants  are  known,  I  shall  have  a  supply." 

From  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  one  of  our  countrymen  writes, 
"A  few  days  ago,  I  gave  a  copy  of  the  Reports  of  the  American 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [490 

Temperance  Society  to  our  consul,  and  finding  last  night  that 
they  had  interested  him  and  his  family,  I  furnished  them  this 
morning  with  another  set,  and  with  some  tracts  for  this  city  and 
Cairo.  His  lady  had  long  been  an  advocate  for  Temperance,  and 
was  now  inspirited  with  new  zeal.  She  determined  that  all  her 
countrymen  who  would,  should  have  an  opportunity  to  read  the 
Reports  at  Alexandria;  and  not  only  so,  but  that  in  Cairo  also, 
they  should  be  furnished  with  them.  At  the  latter  place,  are  a 
large  number  of  English  mechanics,  in  the  Pasha's  manufactories, 
under  a  respectable  director  of  their  own  nation.  Many  of  them 
fall  into  lamentable  habits  of  intemperance,  and  thus  sacrifice  their 
health  and  their  life.  She  subsequently  went  to  Cairo,  on  a  visit 
to  her  son,  the  American  agent  there,  and  procured  the  ready 
approbation  of  this  director,  to  the  circulation  of  the  Temperance 
publications  among  his  men.  So  deeply  did  the  principles  of 
Temperance,  ultimately  take  root  in  her  own  family,  that  her  hus- 
band poured  out  all  his  stores  of  ardent  spirit,  and  thus  cleared 
his  house  of  the  poison.  It  was  not  a  little  gratifying  to  us  to 
see  our  worthy  national  agent,  enter  so  promptly  into  what,  I 
trust  may  be  called  soon,  if  not  now,  our  national  spirit.  These 
with  similar  facts  that  might  be  named,  seemed  to  us  like  the  first 
glimmering  of  early  dawn  upon  the  long  spiritual  night  of  Egypt." 

Similar  are  the  testimonies  of  intelligent,  reflecting  men,  from 
various  parts  of  the  world.  They  all  unite  in  two  things;  First, 
that  wherever  intoxicating  liquor  is  used  as  a  drink,  it  is  one  of 
the  greatest  and  deadliest  foes  to  the  social,  civil,  and  religious 
interests  of  men: 

Second,  that  wherever  the  truth  with  regard  to  the  nature  and 
effects  of  such  liquor,  as  illustrated  by  facts,  has  been  made 
known,  and  the  benefits  of  abstaining  from  it  been  enforced,  on 
the  part  of  the  friends  of  Temperance,  by  a  united  and  consistent 
example,  the  effect  has  been  surprisingly  extensive  and  beneficial. 
Such  has  been  the  change  of  mental  and  moral  habits,  where  ab- 
stinence from  the  use  of  this  liquor  has  prevailed,  that  not  only 
has  drunkenness  ceased,  but  health,  virtue,  and  happiness,  have 
been  greatly  promoted ;  and  all  means  for  the  promotion  of  the 
good  of  man  have  been  crowned  with  greatly  augmented  success. 
It  has  been  like  the  purifying  of  the  pestilential  atmosphere  of  a 
great  country,  on  the  health  of  the  population.  The  old  plan  of 
operating  on  this  subject,  while  men  continued  to  make,  to  sell, 
and  to  use  the  cause  of  intoxication,  and  labored  only  to  remove 
its  effects,  was,  as  unphilosophical,  and  as  absurd,  as  it  would  be, 
to  manufacture,  sell,  and  use  poisonous  miasma,  and  bend  all  our 
efforts,  not  to  prevent  the  Cholera,  but  only  if  possible  to  cure 
it,  after  it  had,  by  the  wickedness  of  men,  occurred;  or  for  the 


491]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835.  37 

Government  to  license  the  dissemination  of  the  cause,  and  then 
to  employ  physicians,  to  try  to  remove  the  effects. 

But  the  present  plan,  which  has  burst  like  a  new  sun  upon  the 
world,  is,  not  to  generate  the  cause.  Instead  of  making  it  the 
great  object,  to  remove  the  evil  after  it  has  been  committed,  or, 
while  continuing  the  cause,  to  prevent  only  its  effects,  the  plan  is, 
not  to  commit  the  evil ;  but  to  let  mischief  alone,  before  it  is 
meddled  with.  Then  its  effects  will  have  no  existence.  Let 
this  become  universal,  and  drunkenness,  and  all  its  abominations 
will,  of  course,  for  ever  cease.  The  cessation  of  the  cause,  will 
necessarily  be  followed  by  the  cessation  of  its  effects;  and  their 
cessation  will  be  the  cessation,  and  to  an  untold  extent,  of  innu- 
merable other  evils,  and  the  production  of  good,  pure,  unmixed, 
immeasurable  good,  under  the  influences  of  the  means  of  grace 
and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  an  extent  which  can  hardly  be  con- 
ceived ;  and  to  multitudes,  which  no  man  can  number. 

The  grand  means,  under  Providence,  of  accomplishing  this 
infinitely  glorious  result,  is,  it  is  believed,  the  universal  dissemina- 
tion in  all  countries,  and  among  all  classes  of  people,  of  a  know- 
ledge of  the  facts,  with  regard  to  the  nature  and  effects  of  intoxi- 
cating drink.  These  facts  the  American  Temperance  Society, 
and  other  Temperance  societies  and  friends  of  Temperance  have 
for  seven  years  been  collecting ;  and  parts  of  them,  have  from 
year  to  year  been  published  for  the  information  of  the  community. 
The  facts  and  reasonings  hitherto  published,  have  related  princi- 
pally to  the  use  of  Alcohol  in  the  form  of  distilled  spirit,  as  that 
has  been  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  drunkenness  in  the  United 
States.  But  the  same  principles  and  results  will  apply,  other 
things  being  equal,  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  of  every  kind, 
in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of  Alcohol  which  it  contains,  and  its 
power  to  produce  intoxication. 

The  benefits,  in  all  countries,  from  the  spread  of  information,  so 
far  as  it  has  been  extended,  has  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations ;  and  has  inspired  strong  confidence,  that  could  the 
knowledge  of  the  facts  be  universally  communicated,  and  attend- 
ed, as  we  have  reason  to  expect  that  it  would  be,  with  the  illumi- 
nating and  purifying  agency  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  millions  of  the 
present  generation  may  be  saved  from  the  drunkard's  grave ;  and 
the  drunkenness  of  all  future  generations,  be  prevented. 

The  American  Temperance  Society  have  therefore  resolved  to 
embody  these  facts  in  a  volume  under  the  title  of  "  Permanent 
Temperance  Documents;"  and  in  reliance  on  divine  aid,  and 
the  assistance  of  the  friends  of  humanity,  to  furnish  a  copy  of  it, 
as  far  as  practicable,  for  each  preacher  of  the  Gospel,  physician, 
lawyer,  legislator,  and  secretary  of  a  Temperance  Society  ; 
and  also  for  each  young  man  in  all  public  seminaries  of  learning, 
4 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [492 

and  for  each  school  teacher  throughout  the  United  States.  The 
object  is,  to  furnish  the  principles  and  facts  for  all  those  classes  of 
persons  who  may  be  expected  to  communicate,  most  extensively, 
the  knowledge  of  them  to  the  whole  community  ;  and  especially 
to  the  young. 

It  is  also  proposed  to  make  extracts  from  the  above  volume,  of 
the  most  interesting  parts,  and  put  them  into  a  smaller  form,  to  be 
called,  "The  Temperance  Manual,  designed  particularly  for 
all  the  young  men  of  the  United  States.  Depositories  will  be 
opened  in  the  principal  places  throughout  the  country,  from  which 
the  population  may  be  most  conveniently  supplied.  The  friends 
of  Temperance  in  many  of  the  towns,  counties,  and  States,  it  is 
hoped,  will  either  print  it,  or  supply  themselves,  at  cost;  and  the 
avails  will  be  appropriated  to  the  gratuitous  and  more  extensive 
dissemination  of  the  work. 

It  is  also  proposed  that  each  family  of  emigrants  which  has,  or 
may  come  into  the  country,  should  be  supplied  with  a  copy;  and 
that  a  number  of  copies  should  be  furnished  for  each  missionary 
of  all  denominations,  and  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

It  is  also  proposed  to  send  a  copy,  to  a  number  of  distinguish- 
ed, and  philanthropic  individuals,  in  all  countries  ;  accompanied 
with  a  letter,  briefly  stating  what  has  already  been  done  on  this 
subject,  and  suggesting  some  of  the  prominent  benefits,  temporal 
and  eternal,  which,  should  men  cease  to  drink  intoxicating  liquor, 
would  result  to  the  human  race,  and  inviting  a  prompt  and  univer- 
sal cooperation. 

Thus  by  the  press,  and  by  the  living  voice,  the  truth  on  this 
subject,  with  suitable  activity  and  perseverance,  may  become  uni- 
versally known;  and  so  far  as  known,  it  will,  with  the  divine 
blessing,  commend  itself  to  every  man's  conscience  in  the  sight 
of  God.  And  although  it  may  not  at  once,  be  so  extensively 
circulated,  and  so  powerful  in  its  influence,  as  to  save  from  per- 
dition every  drunkard,  or  to  save  from  becoming  a  drunkard,  eve- 
ry sober  man,  yet  the  number  of  this  class,  as  "light  and  love" 
are  extended  and  produce  their  appropriate  effects,  will,  as  we 
may  hope,  continue  to  lessen  and  to  lessen,  till  the  last  drunkard 
shall  draw  his  last  breath,  and  not  a  name,  nor  a  footstep,  nor  a 
trace,  nor  a  shadow  of  drunkenness,  shall  again  be  iound  on 
the  globe. 

Then  shall  great  voices  be  heard  in  heaven  saying,  Alleluia; 
for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth.  Peace  shall  flow  as 
a  river,  and  righteousness  as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  Joy  and 
gladness  shall  swell  every  heart,  and  to  the  Author  and  Finisher 
of  all  good  shall  arise,  as  a  cloud  of  incense,  from  the  whole 
earth,  thanksgiving  and  the  voice  of  melody. 


The  annexed  Schedule  will  show  the  amount  of  ARDENT  SPIRIT  Imported  Into  the  United 
St?tes  in  each  vear  during  the  perir>d  mentioned. 


Year 

1790 

1791 

1792 

1793 

1794 

179. 

1796 

J  797 

1798 

1799 

1300 

1S01 

1802 

1803 

1804 


Gallons. 
-4,143,385 
-3,603,361 
-4,567,160 
28,391 

5,515,631 

5,018,562 
-5,599,760 
-6,819,728 
-4,648,743 
-7,302,297 
-4,785,937 
-8,413,314 
-7,839,482 
-8,525,217 
-9,855,792 


Gallons. 
3,928,996 
3,658,150 
5,088,989 
3,946,224 

-5,577,774 
5,091,170 
3,718,152 
3,537,428 
5,102,599 

-3,423,884 
1,692,344 
2,49l,o23 
2,810,140 


Total  in  43  years,  211,434,342 
In  each  gallon  there  are  231  cubic  inches.  In  214,434,342  gallons  there  are  49,534,233,002  cubic 
inches  ;  equal  to  23,665,702  cubic  feet.  Divide  this  by  80,  the  number  of  square  feet  in  a  foot  c( 
a  Canal  20  feet  wide  and  4  feet  deep,  and  we  have  358,321  feet  of  Canal.  Divide  this  by  5280, 
the  number  of  feet  in  a  mile  of  Canal,  and  we  have  about  68  miles  ;  the  length  of  a  Canal  20  feC4 
wide'and  4  feet  deep,  which  the  above  amount  would  (ill.  Suppose  that  there  were  20  times  as 
much  domestic  spirit  used  as  there  was  of  spirit  imported  into  the  United  States,  the  whole 
would  1111  a  Canal  20  feet  wide,  4  feet  deep  and  about  1360  miles  long. 
The  amount  of  WINE,  imported  and  exported  from  1790  to  1332. 


Years. 

1790 

1791 

1792 

1793 

1794 

1795 

1796 

1797 

1798 

1799 

1300 

1301 

1802 

1803 

1804 

1805 

1806 

1807 

1803 

•S09 

1810 

1811 


Gross 

Import'ns. 

Galls. 


Exported. 


2,718,526 
3,070,137 
2,186,697 
4,321,205 
6,261,690 
4,221,619 
5'568,319 
3,292,883 
1,169,720 
1,366,267 
1,897,609 


1,437,753 

1,292,799 

326,689 

1,585  382 

3,519,780 

3,570,209 

3,180,475 

1,1S7,081 

621,652 

233,943 

344.521 


Leaving  for 

consump. 

Year 

1,088,455 

916,256 

1812 

1,269,723 

1813 

1,507,483 

1814 

2,494,352 

1315 

-  3,357,960 

1816 

2,219,905 

1817 

2,041,413 

1818 

1,364,963 

1819 

-  1,807,501 

1320 

1,678,915 

1321 

1,230,763 

1822 

1,777,388 

1823 

1,860,003 

1824 

2,735,923 

1325 

2,742,010 

1826 

661,410 

1827 

2,387,844 

1828 

2,105,302 

1829 

548,068 

1830 

1,127,334 

1831 

1,553,088 

1832 

Gross 

ImporCns. 
Galls. 
1,982,324 
802,6S9 
423,259 
1,280,860 
2,734,063 
1,445,754 
1,663,482 
1 .255,266 
1,754,322 
3,215,142 
2,068,216 
2,675,244 
2,101,359 
3,160,528 
3,436,060 
3,375,503 
2,914,611 
3,070,545 
3,231.693 
3,630,052 
5,845,556 


Exported- 

303,694 

101.413 

1 8,466 

191,273 


329.732 
336,656 
684.660 
790,628 
797,396 
612,253 
590,353 
506,892 
356,457 
333,004 
321,113 
423,924 


Leaving  for 
consump 

1 ,658,630 
701,246 
404,793 

1,033,587 


2,385,419 
2,731, 6M) 
1,990,584 
1,310,731 
2,363,132 
2,323,807 
2,785,150 
2,407,710 
2,714,083 
2,893.689 
3,358,931 
5,421,631 


BRANDE'S  Table,  showing  the  proportion  of  Alcohol  in  distilled  and  fermented  Liquors. 
Proportion  of  Spirit  per  cent,  by  measure- 


1.  Brandy 53.39 

2.  Rum 53.68 

3.  Gin 51.60 

4.  Scotch     Whis- 

key  54.32 

5.  Irishditto. 53.90 

6.  Lissa 26.47 

Ditto.-—- 24.35 

Average-— —25.41 

7.  Raisin  wine — 26.40 

Ditto 25.77 

Ditto. 23.20 

Average 25. 1 2 

Marsala 

Ditto 

Average 
Port 


Ditto.  (Ser«iab21. 40 

Ditto. 19.24 

Average  ——-22.27 
Currant  w;u«  20.55 


18.25 
19.17 
19.79 
19.75 

19.70 


Ditto. 
Average — 

13.  Ter.eriffe— 

14.  Colares 

15.  Lachryma 
Christi — 

16.  Coustantia, 

white — 

17.  Ditto,  red 

18.  Lisbon  — 

19.  Malaga 

20.  Bucellas 

21.  Led  Madeira 
Ditto. 

Average— 

22.  CapeM-jschat 
3.  Cape  Madeira  22.94 


Ditto — 

Ditto 

Average — 
21.  Grape  wine— 

25.  Calcavella  — 
Ditto 

Average  — 

26.  Vidonia 

27.  Alba  Flora— 

23.  Malaga 

29.   White  Hermi- 
tage  -17.43 


-20.50 
-18.11 
-20.51 
-18.11 
-19.20 
-13.10 
-18.65 
-19.2.5 
-17.26 
-17.26 


30.  Rousillcn — 

Ditto. 

A  venae-  ~ 
Cl&rtt- 


-1 9.00 
-17.26 

-la.is 

-17.11 


Ditto 

Ditto — 

Ditto 

Average— 

32.  Zante 

33.  Malmsey  Ma- 

deira  

34.  Lunel— — 

35.  Sheraaz— 

36.  Syracuse  — 

37.  Sauterne — 
33.   Hurgundv- 

Ditto — 

Ditto 

Ditto 

Average  — 

39.  Hock 

Ditto. — — 
Ditto,  (old   in 

cask)-— 

Average — 

40.  Nice 

Barsac 

Tent 

Champaign 

(still) 

Ditto  (spark 

ling; 12. 30 

Ditto  fred) 12.56 

Ditto  (ditto)— n.30 

Average 12.61 

44.  Red  Ilermi- 

-12.321 


-16.32 
-14.08 
-12.91 
-15.10 
-17.05 

-16.40 
-15.52 
-15.52 
-15.23 
-14.22 
-16.60 
-15.22 
-14.53 
-11.95 
-14.57 
-14.37 
-13.00 


-12.0 
-14.63 


-13.30 


:.30 


45.  Vin  de  Grave-13-94 
Ditto 12.80 

Average —13.37 

46.  Frontiguac 

(Rivesalte)— 12.79 

47.  Cote  Rotie 12.32 

48.  Gooseberry 

wine 11.84 

49.  Orange  wine — 

average  of 
six  samples 
made  by  a 
London  ma- 
nufacturer—11.26 

50.  Tokay 9.88 


51.  Elder  wine 8.79 

52.  Cider,   highest 
average 9  87 

Ditto,  lowest—  5.21 

53.  Perry,  average 
of  4  samples  7.26 

54.  Mead 7.32 

55.  Ale  (Burton)—  8.88 
Do.  (Edinburg)  6.20 
Do.  (Dorches-  5.56 

ter.  Eng.) —  o.5H 
Average 

56.  Brown  Stout- 

57.  London  porter 
(average) 

58.  Do  small  Beer 
(average)  — 


6.37 
6.30 


4.20 

1.2a 


APPENDIX. 


Extracts  from  a  Prize  Essay,  by  Reuben  D.  Mussey,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy 
and  Surgery,  Dartmouth  College,  JV.  H.;  President  of  the  Neic  Hampshire  Med- 
ical Society  ;  and  Fellow  of  the  American  Academy  of  Sciences,  fyc.  fyc. 

For  the  above  mentioned  Essay,  was  awarded  a  Premium  of  three  hundred 
dollars.  Among  the  distinguished  gentlemen,  of  a  Committee  by  whom  the 
award  was  made,  were  John  C.  Warren,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Sur 
gery,  Harvard  University,  Boston  ;  Thomas  Sewall,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Anato 
my  and  Physiology,  Columbian  College,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Parker  Cleave 
land,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry  and  Materia  Medica,  Bowdoin  College, 
Maine;  and  Benjamin  Silliman,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Yale  College, 
New  Haven,  Conn.  The  professional  and  official  character  of  the  above  named 
gentlemen,  will  give  great  weight  to  their  opinion.  The  following  extracts  aie 
published  for  the  purpose  of  directing  the  attention  of  Medical  men,  and  espe- 
cially students  of  Medicine,  to  this  momentous  subject ;  and  with  the  hope  that 
all  improper  use  of  a  substance,  which  has  been  so  exceedingly  destructive  to  the 
human  family,  may  be  universally  done  away. 

"  Is  there  any  condition  of  the  system  in  health  or  disease,  in  which  the  use  of 
ardent  spirit  is  indispensable,  and  for  which  there  is  not  an  adequate  substitute? 

Of  the  effects  of  alcohol  as  a  beverage  in  health,  there  ought  to  be  but  one 
opinion.  The  whole  history  of  spirit  drinking,  whether  simple,  or  combined 
with  the  different  ingredients  existing  in  Tennented  or  brewed  liquors,  affords 
abundant  proof  of  its  being  uncongenial  with  the  most  natural  and  healthy  ac- 
tion of  the  bodily  organs.  How  wide  from  the  truth  is  the  notion  that  spirit 
aids  the  stomach  in  the  process  of  digestion. 

Dr.  Beddoes  observed,  that  'animals  to  whom  he  had  given  spirits  along  with 
their  food,  had  digested  nearly  one  half  less  than  other  like  animals  to  whom 
none  hud  been  given.'  Under  the  habitual  use  of  spirit,  the  daily  dose  may 
give  a  temporary  alleviation  to  the  irritated  nerves  of  the  stomach  already  en- 
feebled, but  instead  of  conferring  tone  or  vigor  to  that  organ,  it  only  serves  to 
perpetuate  its  disease  or  debility. 

In  the  case  of  St.  Martin,  a  young  man  into  whose  stomach  through  the  side, 
a  large  opening  was  left  after  the  healing  of  a  seveie  wound,  Dr.  Beaumont  fre- 
quently observed  diseased  appearances; — as,  red  or  purple  spots  upon  the  lining 
membrane  of  the  stomach,  from  some  of  which  exuded  small  drops  of  grumous 
blood  ; — aphthous  or  cankery  patches  upon  the  same  membrane  ;  '  the  gastric 
fluids  mixed  with  a  large  proportion  of  ropy  mucus,  and  muco-purulent  matter 
slightly  tinged  with  blood,  resembling  the  discharge  from  the  bowels  in  some  ca- 
ses of  dysentery.'  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  these  beginnings  of  disease  were 
not  always  accompanied  with  external  signs  or  symptoms  of  disorder.  When 
of  considerable  standing,  however,  these  appearances  were  occasionally  observed 
to  be  attended  with  '  an  uneasy  sensation  and  tenderness  at  the  pit  of  the  stom- 
ach, and  some  dizziness  and  dimness  and  yellowness  of  vision  on  stooping  down 
and  rising  again,'  also,  with  a  brown  coat  upon  the  tongue,  and  a  slight  sallow- 
ness  of  the  countenance. 

'  Improper  indulgence  in  eating  and  drinking,'  says  Dr.  Beaumont,  '  has  been 
the  most  common  precursor  of  these  diseased  conditions  of  the  coats  of  the  stom- 
ach. The  free  use  of  ardent  spirits,  wine,  beer,  or  any  intoxicating  liquor,  when 
continued  for  some  days,  has  invariably  produced  these  morbid  changes.' 

In  evidence  of  the  directly  poisonous  influence  of  alcoholic  drinks  upon  the 
constitution,  is  the  fact,  that  men  long  accustomed  to  their  daily  use  may  be  ta- 
ken ofl' suddenly  and  entirely  from  them,  not  only  without  impairing  the  health, 


495] 


EIGHTH  REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.         41 


but  with  a  certainty  of  improving  it.  In  the  summer  of  1829,  Mr.  Powers,  agent 
and  keeper  of  the  Penitentiary  at  Auburn,  N.  Y.  declared,  that  during  several 
years'  residence  in  that  institution,  he  had  never  known  an  individual  whose 
health  had  not  been  benefited  by  the  total  abstraction  of  spirit  and  every  other 
stimulant  drink  and  narcotic  from  his  diet.  This  testimony  is  very  important, 
inasmuch  as  a  large  proportion  of  the  whole  number  of  convicts  when  admitted 
to  that  establishment  are  drinkers  of  alcoholic  liquors,  from  tippling  to  beastly 
drunkenness.  '  These  drinkers,'  said  Mr.  P.  'are  generally  very  uneasy  and  ner- 
vous, and  sometimes  greatly  distressed  for  ten  or  fifteen  days  after  being  put 
upon  water  as  their  exclusive  beverage ;  but  after  that  period  they  have  a  good 
appetite,  increase  in  flesh, and  become  healthy."  A  considerable  number  are  an- 
ually  received  and  discharged  ;  the  average  number  remaining  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, was  six  hundred.  I  have  never  seen  so  large  a  congregation  of  men  so 
healthy  looking  as  these  convicts,  when  they  came  into  the  chapel  on  Sabbath 
morning  to  hear  a  sermon  from  their  chaplain.  Some  of  these  men  were  sixty 
years  old  when  admitted,  and  were  confirmed  drunkards.  The  evidence  fur- 
nished by  all  our  state  prisons,  where  similar  discipline  is  practised,  is  of  the 
same  character. 

A  wealthy  farmer  in  Sullivan  county,  New  Hampshire,  had  been  in  the  habit 
of  drinking  spirit  for  a  number  of  years,  and  during  the  haying  season  he  often 
used  it  freely.  With  more  than  ordinary  activity  of  mind  and  a  vigorous  bodily 
constitution,  he  attained  the  age  of  seventy  five  years;  much  broken  down  and 
decayed  however,  under  occasional  attacks  of  gout,  which  he  called  rheuma- 
tism. At  this  period  he  broke  off  suddenly  and  wholly  from  the  use  of  spirit ; 
and  within  two  years,  that  is,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  he  was  so  much  re- 
cruited as  to  appear  several  years  younger,  and  he  assured  me  that  in  the  last 
two  haying  seasons  he  had  accomplished  more  personal  labor  than  in  any  other 
two  haying  seasons  for  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years.  He  expressed  himself  in 
the  most  decisive  and  energetic  manner  when  remarking  upon  the  effects,  in  his 
own  case,  of  total  abstinence  from  spirituous  drinks ;  he  had  not  only  not  been 
injured,  but  had  been  an  unspeakable  gainer  by  the  change.  This  case,  and 
others  like  it,  show  the  futility  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  unsafe  for  persons  of  any 
age  suddenly  to  break  off  the  habit  of  spirit  drinking,  and  that  those  advanced 
in  life  should  either  not  attempt  to  discontinue  it,  or  should  do  it  in  the  most 
cautious  and  gradual  manner.  The  truth  is,  that  the  effects,  whether  immedi- 
ate or  remote,  of  alcohol,  whenever  they  are  so  distinct  as  to  be  estimated,  are 
always  those  of  an  unnatural,  unhealthy,  or  poisonous  a^ent ;  and  soon  after 
the  daily  poison  is  withdrawn,  the  vital  powers,  relieved  from  their  oppression, 
rally,  the  organs  act  with  more  freedom  and  regularity,  and  the  whole  machin- 
ery of  life  exhibits  something  like  a  renovation. 

Spirit  has  been  erroneously  supposed  to  afford  a  protective  influence  against 
the  effects  of  severe  cold.  A  sea  captain  of  Boston,  Massachusetts,  informed  me 
that  in  a  memorable  cold  Friday  in  the  year  18l(i,  he  was  on  a  homeward  pas- 
sage off  our  coast  not  far  from  the  latitude  of  Boston.  Much  ice  made  upon  the 
ship,  and  every  person  on  board  was  more  or  less  frozen,  excepting  two  individ- 
uals, and  they  were  the  only  two  who  drank  no  spirit. 

'  In  1619,  the  crew  of  a  Danish  ship  of  sixty  men,  well  supplied  with  provis- 
ions and  ardent  spirit,  attempted  to  pass  the  winter  in  Hudson's  bay  ;  but  fifty- 
eight  of  them  died  before  spring.  An  English  crew  of  twenty-ttco  men,  however, 
destitute  of  ardent  spirit  and  obliged  to  be  almost  constantly  exposed  to  the  cold, 
wintered  in  the  same  bay,  and  only  two  of  them  died.  Eight  Englishmen  did 
the  same  in  like  circumstances,  and  all  returned  to  England.  And  four  Russians, 
left  without  spirit  or  provisions  in  Spitzbergen,  lived  there  six  years  and  after 
wards  returned  home.'     Facts  of  this  nature  might  be  multiplied  to  any  extent. 

So  far,  also,  from  guarding  the  animal  fabric  against  the  depressing  and  irri- 
tating effects  of  heat,  spirit  tends  to  produce  inflammatory  diseases.  A  distin- 
guished medical  officer,  Marshall,  who  was  subjected  to  great  exertion  and  ex- 
posure in  a  tropical  climate,  observes,  '  I  have  always  found  that  the  strongest 
liquors  were  the  most  enervating;  and  this  in  whatever  quantity  they  were  con- 
sumed :  for  the  daily  use  of  spirits  is  an  evil  which  retains  its  pernicious  char- 
acter through  all  its  gradations  ;  indulged  in  at  all,  it  can  produce  nothing  bet 
ter  than  a  diluted  or  mitigated  kind  of  mischief.' 

4* 


42  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [496 

Those  ships'  crews  who  now  visit  hot  and  sickly  climates  without  spirit,  have 
an  average  of  sickness  and  mortality  strikingly  less  than  those  who  continue  the 
use  of  it  as  formerly.  '  The  Brig  Globe,  Captain  Moore,'  says  the  anniversary 
Report  of  the  Pennsylvania  Temperance  Society  for  1831,  '  has  lately  returned 
from  a  voyage  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  She  had  on  board  a  crew  often  persons, 
and  was  absent  nearly  eighteen  months.  She  was,  during  the  voyage,  in  al- 
most all  the  climates  of  the  world;  had  not  one  person  sick  on  board,  and 
brought  the  crew  all  back  orderly  and  obedient.  All  these  advantages  Captain 
Moore  attributes,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  absence  of  spirituous  liquors.  There 
was  not  one  drop  used  in  all  that  time  ;  indeed  there  was  none  on  board  the  ves- 
sel.' 

To  a  place  among  preventives  of  disease,  spirituous  drinks  can  present  but  the 
most  feeble  claims.  If,  under  occasional  drinking  during  the  period  of  alcoholic 
excitement,  a  temporary  resistance  may  be  given  to  those  morbid  influences 
which  bring  acute  disease,  be  it  occasional  or  epidemic,  that  excitement,  by  the 
immutable  laws  of  vital  action,  is  necessarily  followed  by  a  state  of  relaxation, 
depression,  or  collapse,  in  which  the  power  of  resistance  is  weakened,  and  this 
too  in  proportion  to  the  previous  excitement.  In  order  therefore  to  obtain  from 
alcoholic  stimulus  any  thing  like  a  protective  influence  against  the  exciting 
causes  of  disease,  the  exposure  to  these  causes  must  be  periodical,  precisely  cor- 
responding with  the  stage  of  artificial  excitation.  If.  however;  such  accuracy  of 
adjustment  between  the  powers  of  vital  resistance  artificially  excited,  and  the 
unhealthy  agencies  which  tend  to  produce  disease  be  wholly  impracticable,  then 
the  danger  must  be  increased  by  resorting  under  any  circumstances  to  spirit  as  a 
preservative  ;  and  if  not,  other  articles  would  do  as  well. 

The  best  protection  against  disease  is  derived  from  a  natural,  healthy,  unfluc- 
tuating state  of  vital  action,  sustained  by  plain  articles  of  nutriment  taken  at  reg- 
ular intervals,  uninfluenced  by  any  innutritions  stimulus  which  operates  upon 
the  whole  nervous  power.  The  habitual  drinking  of  ardent  spirit  creates  a  mul- 
titude of  chronic  or  subacute  organic  irritations  and  derangements,  upon  whieh 
acute  disease  is  most  easily,  nay,  often  necessarily  ingrafted  ;  hence  tipplers  and 
drunkards,  exposed  to  the  exciting  causes  of  inflammatory,  epidemic,  and  con- 
tagious diseases,  are  liable  to  an  attack,  and  when  attacked  having  the  vital 
powers  unnecessarily  wasted,  they  die  in  larger  numbers.  These  results  are 
witnessed  in  epidemic  pleurisies,  lung  fevers,  the  severe  forms  of  influenza, 
pestilential  fevers,  and  cholera. 

Most  appalling  evidence  is  afforded  by  the  history  of  this  last  disease,  of  the 
pernicious  influence  of  intoxicating  liquors  in  preparing  the  human  constitution 
for  its  attack.  In  India,  Ramohun  Fingee,  a  native  physician,  declares  that 
'  people  who  do  not  take  spirits  or  opium  do  not  catch  the  disorder,  even  when 
they  are  with  those  who  have  it.'  In  the  army  under  the  command  of  the  Mar- 
quis of  Hastings  in  India,  consisting  of eighteen  thousand  men,  more  than  half  of 
the  men  died  in  the  first  twelve  days;  the  free  use  of  intoxicating  liquors  in  a 
hot  climate  will  assist  in  explaining  this  extraordinary  mortality. 

In  China,  according  to  Dr.  Keiche, '  the  disease  selected  its  victims  from  among 
such  of  the  people  as  live  in  filth  and  intemperance.' 

Mr.  Huber,  who  saw  21  fit)  perish  in  twenty-five  days  in  one  town  in  Russia, 
says,  '  It  is  a  most  remarkable  circumstance,  that  persons  given  to  drinking  have 
been  swept  away  like  flies.  In  Tiflis,  containing  20,000  inhabitants,  every  drunk- 
ard has  fallen  .'  all  arc  dead — not  one  remains.' 

A  physician  of  Warsaw  says,  'that  the  disease  spared  all  those  who  led  regu- 
lar lives,  and  resided  in  healthy  situations  ;  whereas  they  whose  constitutions 
had  been  broken  down  by  excess  and  dissipation,  were  invariably  attacked.  Out 
of  one  hundred  individuals  destroyed  by  cholera,  it  was  proved  that  ninety  had 
been  addicted  to  the  free  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

In  Paris,  of  the  30,000  persons  destroyed  by  cholera,  it  is  said  that  a  great  pro- 
portion were  intemperate  or  profligate. 

It  has  been  computed  that  '  five-sixths  of  all  who  have  fallen  by  this  disease 
jn  England,  were  taken  from  the  ranks  of  the  intemperate  and  dissolute.' 

Dr.  Rhinelander,  who  visited  Montreal  during  the  prevalence  of  cholera  there 
in  the  summer  of  1832,  says,  '  that  the  victims  of  the  disease  are  the  intemperate 
— it  invariably  cuts  them  off'     In  that  city,  after  th?re  had  been  twelve  hundred 


497] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. — 1835.— APPENDIX.  43 


cases  of  the  malady,  a  Montreal  journal  states,  that '  not  a  drunkard  who  has 
been  attacked  has  recovered ;  and  almost  all  the  victims  have  been  at  least  mod- 
erate drinkers.' 

Dr.  Sewall  of  Washington  city,  while  on  a  visit  to  the  cholera  hospitals  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  the  same  season,  writes  to  a  friend,  that '  of  204  cases  of 
cholera  in  the  Park  Hospital,  there  were  only  six  temperate  persons,  and  that 
those  had  recovered  ;  while  122  of  the  others,  when  he,  wrote,  had  died ;'  and 
that  the  facts  were  '  similar  in  all  the  other  hospitals.' 

In  Albany,  the  same  season,  cholera  prevailed  for  several  weeks,  attended 
with  a  severe  mortality;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  during  its  whole  period, 
it  is  not  known  that  more  than  two  individuals,  out  of  the  live  thousand  mem- 
bers of  Temperance  Societies  in  that  city,  became  its  victims,  while  of  the 
twenty-one  thousand  of  the  rest  of  the  population,  the  number  of  deaths  of 
persons  over  sixteen  years  of  age,  was  three  hundred  and  thirty-four. 

Water  is  the  natural  and  proper  drink  of  man.  Indeed  it  is  the  grand  beve 
rage  of  organized  nature.  It  enters  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  blood, 
and  juices  of  animals  and  plants  ;  forms  an  important  ingredient  in  their  organiz- 
ed structures,  and  bears  a  fixed  and  unalterable  relation  to  their  whole  vital  econ- 
omy.    It  was  the  only  beverage  of  the  human  family  in  their  primeval  state. 

In  that  garden,  where  grew  '  every  tree  pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for 
food,'  producing  all  the  richness  and  variety  of  '  fruit  and  flower'  which  an  om- 
nipotent and  all-bountiful  Creator  could  adapt  to  the  relish  of  his  senses,  and 
the  exigencies  of  his  entire  organization,  it  cannot  for  a  moment  be  doubted 
that  man  was  in  a  condition  the  best  suited  to  secure  to  him  the  uninterrupted, 
as  well  as  the  highest  and  best  exercise  and  enjoyment,  of  his  physical,  mental, 
and  moral  powers.  His  drink  was  water.  A  river  flowed  from  Paradise.  From 
the  moment  that  river  began  to  '  water  the  garden,'  till  the  present,  no  human 
invention  has  equalled  this  simple  beverage;  and  all  the  attempts  to  improve  it 
by  the  admixture  of  other  substances,  whether  alcoholic,  narcotic,  or  aromatic, 
have  not  only  failed,  but  have  served  to  deteriorate  or  poison  it,  and  render  it 
less  healthful  and  safe. 

Water  is  as  well  adapted  to  man's  natural  appetite,  as  to  the  physical  wants  of 
his  organs.  A  natural  thirst,  and  the  pleasure  derived  from  its  gratification, 
were  given  us  to  secure  to  the  vital  machinery  the  supply  of  liquid  necessary  to 
its  healthy  movements.  When  this  natural  thirst  occurs,  no  drink  tastes  so 
good,  and  in  truth  none  is  so  good  as  water;  none  possesses  adaptations  so  exact 
to  the  vital  necessities  of  the  organs.  So  long  as  a  fresh  supply  of  liquid  is  not 
needed,  so  long  there  is  not  the  least  relish  for  water;  it  offers  no  temptation, 
while  its  addition  to  the  circulating  fluids  would  be  useless,  or  hurtful. 

This  topic  has  been  most  ably  discussed  by  Dr.  Oliver,  as  follows  : — 'The 
waste  of  the  fluid  parts  of  our  bodies  requires  the  use  of  drink  to  repair  it,  and 
we  derive  a  sensible  gratification  from  quenching  our  thirst.  What  use  do  we 
make  of  this  fact  ?  Why,  to  try  if  we  cannot  find  something  that  we  shall  take 
pleasure  in  drinking,  whether  we  are  thirsty  or  not ;  and  in  this  search  mankind 
have  been  remarkably  successful.  To  such  a  degree  indeed  have  we  succeeded 
in  varying  and  increasing  a  pleasure  which  was  designed  by  nature  merely  as 
an  incentive  to  quench  our  thirst,  that  to  quench  thirst  is  become  one  of  the  last 
things  that  people  drink  for.  It  is  seldom  indeed  that  people  in  health  have 
an}'  natural  thirst,  except  perhaps  after  exercise,  or  labor  in  a  hot  day.  Under 
all  other  circumstances,  we  anticipate  the  sensation  by  drinking  before  it  comes 
on,  so  as  but  seldom  to  enjoy  the  natural  and  healthful  gratification  of  drinking 
because  we  are  thirsty.  Who  has  not  observed  the  extreme  satisfaction  which 
children  derive  from  quenching  their  thirst  with  pure  water,  and  who  that  has 
perverted  his  appetite  for  drink,  by  stimulating  his  palate  with  bitter  beer,  sour 
cider,  rum  and  water,  and  other  brewages  of  human  invention,  but  would  be  a 
gainer  even  on  the  score  of  mere  animal  gratification,  without  any  reference  to 
health,  if  he  could  bring  back  his  vitiated  taste  to  the  simple  relish  of  nature. 
Children  drink  because  they  are  dry.  Grown  people  drink,  whether  dry  or  not; 
because  they  have  discovered  a  \yay  of  making  drinking  pleasant.  Children 
drink  water  because  this  is  a  beverage  of  Nature's  own  brewing,  which  she  has 
made  for  the  purpose  of  quenching  a  natural  thirst.     Grown  people  drink  any 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [499 

thing  but  water,  because  this  fluid  is  intended  to  quench  only  a  natural  thirst, 
and  natural  thirst  is  a  thing  which  they  seldom  feel. 

'One  of  the  evils,  though  not  the  only  or  the  greatest  one,  of  perverting  the 
natural  appetite  of  thirst,  is,  that  it  leaves  us  without  a  guide  to  direct  us  when 
we  need  drink,  and  when  we  do  not.  There  is  no  danger,  it  is  true,  that  this 
want  will  mislead  us  into  drinking  tow  little ;  the  danger  is,  that  we  shall  be 
betrayed  into  drinking  too  much,  i.  c.  when  nature  does  not  require  it ;  and 
such  no  doubt  is  frequently  the  case.  If  a  man  is  fond  of  some  particular  drink 
(and  most  people  I  believe  have  their  favorite  liquor,)  he  will  be  tempted  to  take 
it  when  he  does  not  really  need  it.  This  consideration  points  out  the  wisdom 
of  nature  in  providing  for  us  a  beverage  which  has  nothing  to  tempt  us  to  drink, 
except  when  we  are  really  thirsty.  At  all  other  times,  water  is  either  perfectly 
indifferent,  or  it  is  disagreeable  to  us ;  but  when  we  labor  under  thirst,  i.e. 
when  nature  requires  drink,  nothing  is  so  delicious  to  a  pure,  unadulterated 
taste.  While  we  adhere  to  this  simple  beverage  we  shall  be  sure  to  have  an 
unerring  prompter  to  remind  us  when  we  really  require  drink ;  and  we  shall  be 
in  no  danger  of  being  tempted  to  drink  when  nature  requires  it  not.  But  the 
moment  we  depart  from  pure  water,  we  lose  this  inestimable  guide,  and  are  left, 
not  to  the  real  instincts  of  nature,  but  to  an  artificial  taste  in  deciding  on  actions 
intimately  connected  with  health  and  long  life.  What  is  more  common  than 
for  a  man  to  take  a  glass  of  beer,  or  cider,  or  wine,  or  rum  and  water,  not  be- 
cause he  is  thirsty,  and  really  needs  drink,  but  because  opportunity  makes  it 
convenient,  and  he  thinks  it  will  taste  well.  And  this  is  true,  not  only  of  fer- 
mented or  distilled  liquors,  which  are  directly  injurious  in  other  modes,  but  in  a 
less  degree,  of  any  addition  made  to  pure  water  to  make  it  more  palatable.  Let 
me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  am  far  from  insinuating  that  lemonade,  and  milk 
and  water,  are  hurtful  drinks.  Far  from  it.  But  I  say,  that  in  using  even  these 
mild  and  healthful  beverages  we  lose  one  important  advantage  we  should  derive 
from  the  use  of  pure  water  alone.  If  they  are  more  palatable  to  us  than  water 
(and  otherwise  we  should  have  no  motive  to  use  them.)  we  shall  be  tempted  to 
take  them  oftener,  and  in  greater  quantities  than  is  required  by  nature,  and  may 
thus  unconsciously  do  ourselves  an  injury.  It  is  rare  for  a  person  to  drink  a 
glass  of  water  when  he  is  not  thirsty,  merely  for  the  pleasure  of  drinking  ;  and 
as  thirst  is  the  natural  guide,  if  he  drinks  when  not  thirsty,  he  takes  more  fluid 
than  nature  points  out  as  proper ;  and  so  far  violates  one  of  her  obvious  laws. 
But  it  may  be  asked  if  any  injury  can  result  from  drinking  more  than  nature 
absolutely  requires.  Not  perhaps  in  particular  instances,  but  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing more  may  undoubtedly  be  injurious.  It  is  a  sufficient  answer  to  all  these 
questions  to  say  that  our  Creator  knows  best.  Under  the  guidance  of  the  in- 
stincts he  has  implanted  in  us  with  regard  to  the  use  of  drink,  we  are  ordinarily 
safe.  But  as  soon  as  we  leave  these,  and  place  ourselves  under  the  direction  of 
our  own  educated  appetites,  we  are  constantly  liable  to  be  led  into  danger.  It 
is  certainly  hurtful  to  drink  habitually  more  than  was  intended  by  nature,  be- 
cause it  imposes  upon  the  constitution  the  task  of  removing  the  excess ;  or  else 
it  is  retained  in  the  system,  and  there  ma}'  lead  to  dropsy,  or  some  other  of  the 
consequences  of  plethora,  or  redundance  of  fluids  in  the  system.' 

Dr.  Cullen,  formerly  a  distinguished  professor  of  Medicine  at  Edinburgh, 
after  speaking  of  the  general  use  of  water,  both  by  man  and  the  brute  creation, 
remarks, — '  Simple  water  is,  without  any  addition,  the  proper  drink  of  man- 
kind.' 

Dr.  Gregory,  the  successor  of  Cullen,  in  his  Conspectus  Medicines  Theoreticae, 
eays,  that '  pure  spring  water,  when  fresh  and  cold,  is  the  most  wholesome  drink, 
and  the  most  grateful  to  those  who  are  thirsty,  whether  they  be  sick  or  well ;  it 
quenches  thirst,  cools  the  body,  dilutes,  and  thereby  obtunds  acrimony  —  often 
promotes  sweat,  expels  noxious  matters,  resists  putrefaction,  aids  digestion,  and, 
in  fine,  strengthens  the  stomach.' 

Dr.  James  Johnson,  an  eminent  physician  now  residing  in  London,  remarks 
upon  water  as  follows  :  '  There  can  be  no  question  that  water  is  the  best  and  the 
only  drink  which  nature  has  designed  for  man ;  and  there  is  as  little  doubt  but 
that  every  person  might,  gradually,  or  even  pretty  quickly,  accustom  himself  to 
this  aqueous  beverage.     The  water  drinker  glides  tranquilly  through  life  without 


199] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  45 


much  exhilaration,  or  depression,  and  escapes  many  diseases  to  which  he  would 
otherwise  be  subject.  The  wine  drinker  experiences  short  but  vivid  periods  of 
rapture,  and  long  intervals  of  gloom  ;  he  is  also  more  subject  to  disease.  The 
balance  of  enjoyment  then,  turns  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  water  drinker,  leav- 
ing out  his  temporal  prosperity  and  future  anticipations;  and  the  nearer  we 
keep  to  his  regimen,  the  happier  we  shall  be.' 

How  congenial  is  this  fluid  to  the  human  organization,  adapted  as  it  is  to  its 
necessities  under  ever}'  variety  of  constitution,  and  vicissitude  of  climate,  from 
the  equator  to  the  artic  circles.  Dr.  Mitchel,  in  reference  to  facts  already  quoted, 
aud  others  like  them,  respecting  ships'  crews  wintering  in  icy  regions,  says, 'that 
in  all  the  frequent  attempts  to  sustain  the  intense  cold  of  winter  in  the  arctic  re- 
gions, particularly  in  Hudson's  Bay,  Greenland,  and  Spitzbergen,  those  crews 
or  companies  which  had  been  well  supplied  with  provisions  and  liquors,  and 
enabled  thereby  to  indulge  in  indolence  and  free  drinking,  have  generally  per- 
ished ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  greatest  number  of  survivors  have  been  uni- 
formly found  among  those  who  were  accidentally  thrown  upon  the  inhospitable 
shores,  destitute  of  food  and  spirituous  liquors,  compelled  to  maintain  an  inces- 
sant struggle  against  the  rigors  of  the  climate  in  procuring  food,  and  obliged  to 
use  water  alone  as  drink.' 

In  hot  climates,  too,  water  is  the  only  safe  drink.  Dr.  Mosely,  on  tropical  dis- 
eases, uses  the  following  language  :  '  I  aver,  from  my  own  knowledge  and  cus- 
tom, as  well  as  from  the  custom  and  observations  of  others,  that  those  who  drink 
nothing  but  water,  or  make  it  their  principal  drink,  are  but  little  affected  by  the 
climate,  and  can  undergo  the  greatest  fatigue  without  inconvenience.' 

The  Arabs  of  the  desert  are  among  the  most  hardy  of  the  human  race,  endu- 
ring the  greatest  fatigue  and  exposure  under  a  burning  sun,  and  their  habitual 
drink  is  water. 

The  effects  of  water  drinking  in  a  burning  climate  are  well  marked  in  the  fol- 
lowing account,  given  by  Mr.,  afterwards  Sir  James  M'Gregor,  of  the  march  in 
Egypt  of  a  division  of  the  British  army  sent  from  Hindostan  to  aid  the  main  ar- 
my in  opposing  the  French  under  Napoleon.  '  After  crossing  the  Great  Desert 
in  July  1801,  from  a  difficulty  in  procuring  carriage,  no  ardent  spirit  was  issued 
to  the  troops  in  upper  Egypt.  At  this  time  there  was  much  duty  of  fatigue, 
which,  for  want  of  followers,  was  done  by  the  soldiers  themselves  ;  the  other  du- 
ties were  severe  upon  them  ;  they  were  frequently  exercised,  and  were  much  in 
the  sun  ;  the  heat  was  excessive  :  in  the  soldiers'  tents  in  the  middle  of  the  day 
the  mercury  in  the  thermometer  of  Fahrenheit  stood  at  from  114  degrees  to  118 
degrees,  but  at  no  time  was  the  Indian  army  so  healthy.' 

Dr.  Johnson,  from  whom  an  opinion  on  the  superiority  of  water  to  wine  as  a 
beverage,  has  already  been  given,  remarks,  in  his  Tropical  Hygiene,  that  '  it 
might  appear  very  reasonable  that  in  a  climate  where  ennui  reigns  triumphant, 
and  an  unaccountable  languor  pervades  both  mind  and  body,  we  should  cheer 
our  drooping  spirits  with  the  mirth-stirring  bowl;  a  precept  which  Hafiz  has  re- 
peatedly enjoined.  But  Hafiz,  though  an  excellent  poet,  and,  like  his  predeces- 
sor, Homer,  a  votary  of  Bacchus,  was  not  much  of  a  physician;  and  without 
doubt  his  "  liquid  ruby,"  as  he  calls  it,  is  one  of  the  worst  of  all  prescriptions  for 
a  "  pensive  heart."  I  remember  a  gentleman  at  Prince  of  Wales'  Island,  (Mr.  S.) 
some  years  ago,  who  was  remarkable  for  his  convivial  talents,  and  flow  of  spirits. 
The  first  time  I  happened  to  be  in  a  large  company  with  him,  I  attributed  his  an- 
imation and  hilarity  to  the  wine,  and  expected  to  see  them  flag,  as  is  usual, 
when  the  first  effects  of  the  bottle  were  past  off;  but  I  was  surprised  to  find  them 
maintain  a  uniform  level,  after  many  younger  heroes  had  bowed  to  the  rosy  god. 
I  now  contrived  to  get  near  him  and  enter  into  a  conversation,  when  he  disclosed 
the  secret,  by  assuring  me  he  had  drunk  nothing  but  water  for  many  years  in 
India :  that  in  consequence  his  health  was  excellent — his  spirits  free — his  mental 
faculties  unclouded,  although  far  advanced  on  time's  list ;  in  short,  that  he  could 
conscientiously  recommend  the  "  antediluvian"  beverage,  as  he  termed  it,  to 
every  one  that  sojourned  in  a  tropical  climate.'. 

Facts  and  opinions,  corresponding  with  the  foregoing,  from  physicians  and 
others,  might  be  cited  to  a  much  greater  extent,  but  it  is  deemed  unnecessary. 
Not  only  at  the  present  day,  but  in  times  gone  by,  and  even  far  back  up  to  the 
remote  periods  of  regular  medicine,  eminent  physicians  have  commended  water 


4G  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCF    SOCIETY.  [500 

as  the  best,  or  as  the  only  proper  and  healthful  beverage  for  man.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  Parr,  Cheyne,  Arbuthnot,  Sydenham,  Haller,  Stahl.  Van 
Swieten,  Bcerhaave,  Hoffmann,  and  even  Celsus,  Galen,  and  Hippocrates.  These 
were  like  so  many  meteors  shooting  here  and  there  amid  the  darkness  which 
for  ages  hung  over  men's  minds;  but  upon  this  darkness  a  broad  light  has  at 
length  broken,  which,  it  is  believed,  is  a  sure  presage  of  '  perfect  day.  The  ex 
periment  has  been  made  on  a  large  scale,  and  many  thousands  of  witnesses  in 
our  country  may  now  be  referred  to  for  an  opinion  furnished  by  their  own  per- 
sonal experience,  on  the  effects  of  water  as  the  habitual  and  only  drink.  Mul- 
titudes of  farmers,  mechanics,  manufacturers,  sea-faring,  and  professional  men, 
give  (heir  voice  in  its  favor. 

Of  186  whaling  vessels  belonging  to  New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  lfiS  furnish 
no  spirits  for  their  crews;  and  the  uniform  opinion  of  the  owners  and  captains 
of  these,  as  well  as  of  merchant  vessels  in  different  ports,  as  furnished  to  thfi 
executive  committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  Society  is,  that  the- 
use  of  intoxicating  drinks  for  sea-faring  men  in  any  climate,  and  under  any 
circumstances,  are  not  necessary,  but  injurious;  and  they  assert  that  observation 
and  experience  prove  that  sailors  are  more  healthy,  more  orderly,  and  perforin 
their  duty  altogether  better  without  these  liquors.  I'ide,  '  Testimony  of  Amer- 
ican merchants  and  sea  captains.' — American  Quarterly  Temperance.  Magazine 
for  August,  1834. 

So  fully  impressed  are  commercial  men  with  the  belief  that  disasters  at  sea  are 
very  often  connected  with  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  that  an  insurance 
eompany  in  Boston,  and  more  recently  all  the  marine  insurance  companies  in 
New  York,  in  all  amounting  to  ten,  have  engaged  to  return  five  per  cent,  on 
the  premium  of  every  vessel  navigated  without  spirit. 

At  a  meeting  ef  the  board  of  underwriters,  held  at  the  office  of  the  American 
Insurance  Company,  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  second  of  October,  1834, 
it  was 

Resolved,  That  the  different  marine  insurance  companies  in  the  city  of  New 
York  will  allow  a  deduction  of  five  per  cent,  on  the  net  premiums  which  may 
be  taken  after  this  date  on  all  vessels,  and  on  vessels  together  with  their  outfits, 
if  on  whaling  and  sealing  voyages,  terminating  without  loss,  provided  the  master 
and  mate  make  affidavit,  after  the  termination  of  the  risk,  that  no  ardent  spirits 
had  been  drunk  on  board  the  vessel  by  the  officers  and  crew  during  the  voyage 
or  term  for  which  the  vessel  or  outfits  were  insured. 

William  Neilson,  President. 

Walter  R.  Jones,  Secretary  of  the  Board.' 

Vide,  American  Quarterly  Temperance  Magazine  for  November,  1834. 

As  a  vehicle  for  medicinal  agents,  alcohol  has  held  a  distinguished  place.  An 
extensive  list  of  tinctures,  or  spirituous  infusions  of  vegetable  articles,  and  of 
alcoholic  solutions  of  mineral  substances,  is  still  found  in  our  dispensatories. 
In  a  highly  scientific  work  of  this  kind,  lately  published  in  this  country,  there 
are  given  the  methods  of  preparing  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  tinctures  ! 

The  tonic  barks,  and  roots,  and  woods,  impart  more  or  less  their  medicinal 
properties  to  distilled  spirit;  and  thus  imparted,  these  properties  are  preserved 
for  a  considerable  length  of  time.  Of  these  preparations,  however,  it  may  be 
observed,  that  the  spirit  often  so  modifies  the  impression  made  upon  the  stom- 
ach, brain,  or  blood  vessels,  as  to  prevent  their  being  given  in  doses  sufficient 
for  the  objects  intended.  This  is  the  case  in  certain  forms  of  gastric  and  intes- 
tinal irritation,  accompanied  with  an  unnatural  irritability,  not  only  of  the  gan- 
glionic nerves,  but  of  those  belonging  to  the  cerebro-spinal  system.  Cases  not 
unfrequently  occur  where  the  decoction  or  watery  infusion  of  the  Peruvian  bark 
is  altogether  preferable  to  the  tincture  ;  and  peihaps  there  is  never  a  case  in 
which  some  preparation  of  quinia,  as  the  sulphate  for  example,  is  not  decidedly 
better  for  the  patient  than  any  alcoholic  infusion  of  the  bark. 

The  spirituous  preparations  of"  opium  are  in  many,  if  not  in  all  cases,  inferior 
to  the  black  drop.  The  stomach  has  been  known,  in  a  state  of  great  irritability 
after  excessive  vomiting,  to  retain  the  black  drop,  or  one  of  the  salts  of  mor 
phia,  when  the  tincture  of  opium  was  perseveringly  rejected. 


501] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  47 


In  those  cases  of  excessive  irritability  of  the  stomach,  accompanied  with 
spasms  of  its  muscular  coat,  and  also  that  of  the  intestines,  in  which  external 
anodyne  applications  are  indicated,  the  warm  black  drop  upon  the  abdomen,  or 
the  (dry)  acetate  of  morphia  applied  to  a  blistered  surface,  is  altogether  more 
efficient  than  the  tincture  of  opium.  I  have  repeatedly  witnessed  a  much  hap- 
pier effect  from  the  simple  acetous  solution  of  opium  locally  applied,  than  from 
the  spirituous  solutions,  in  relieving  the  agonizing  pain  of  phlegmasia  dolens. 

The  medicinal  qualities  of  the  tonic  and  narcotic  vegetables  may  be  preserv- 
ed without  decay  in  the  form  of  the  elegant  preparations,  which  owe  their  exist- 
ence to  the  perfection  in  chemical  processes  invented  in  our  own  times;  and  these 
preparations  may  be  employed  without  alcoholic  or  any  other  admixtures  which 
would  serve  to  modify  or  impair  their  effects.  The  materia  medica  then  would 
sustain  no  los*  if  alcohol  were  wholly  given  up  as  a  vehicle  for  these  classes  of 
medicines.  The  same  is  true  of  its  combination  with  the  active  principle  of  the 
Spanish  fly.  This  article  yields  to  water  and  to  vinegar  its  active  properties. 
A  strong  vinegar  of  flies  is  a  better  vesicant  than  the  alcoholic  infusion ;  and 
the  chemical  extract  named  cantharidin  unites  readily  with  oil  as  a  vehicle,  and 
in  this  form  may  be  most  conveniently  employed  for  the  purpose  of  making  a 
blister. 

The  essential  oils,  the  balsams,  and  the  resins,  may  unite  with,  or  become  dif- 
fused in  water  by  the  aid  of  sugar  and  gum  arabic,  or  by  the  admixture  of  am- 
monia, where  this  can  be  done  without  loo  far  modifying  their  medicinal  effects. 

These  mixtures,  called  emulsions,  admit  of  the  medicinal  article  being  taken 
at  any  requisite  degree  of  dilution.  They  are  greatly  to  be  preferred  to  the  al- 
coholic solutions,  inasmuch  as  these  last  are  precipitated  in  the  form  of  a  white 
or  brown  cloud,  or  in  a  mass  of  small  globules  the  moment  they  are  thrown 
into  water,  and  are  thus  less  equably  diffused  in  the  water  than  when  combined 
with  it  through  the  medium  of  sugar,  or  some  other  suitable  article.  Camphor 
may  be  very  effectually  comminuted  and  diffused  in  water  by  rubbing  it  with 
calcined  magnesia,  and  adding  water  slowly.*  This  is  a  more  uniform  mixture, 
and  more  convenient  for  internal  exhibition,  than  can  be  made  by  mixing  the 
spirituous  solution  with  water. 

The  emulsions  then  of  these  articles,  as  medicines  to  be  taken  into  the  stom- 
ach, are  decidedly  preferable  to  the  alcoholic  solutions,  or  tinctures,  as  they  are 
•ailed.  If  an  attempt  be  made  to  swallow  these  tinctures  without  diluting  them, 
they  are  not  only  found  too  pungent,  or  acrid,  but  they  are  at  once  precipitated 
by  the  fluids  of  the  mouth  and  throat ;  and  when  the  tincture  of  guaiacum  or 
of  tolu  is  taken,  the  resinous  matter  is  at  once  spread  out  upon  the  surface  of 
the  tongue  and  mouth,  in  the  form  of  an  adhesive  coating  of  varnish,  which  is 
dislodged  with  difficulty. 

As  a  remedy  itself,  in  various  forms  of  disease  alcoholic  stimulus  has  long 
been  regarded  with  high  consideration.  In  the  slight  departures  from  the  equa- 
ble healthy  living  actions  of  the  body,  marked  by  exhaustion  from  fatigue,  loss 
of  blood,  hunger,  thirst,  and  exposure  to  great  heat  or  cold,  which  approach  the 
state  of  syncope  or  fainting,  some  kind  of  intoxicating  liquor  is  generally  re- 
sorted to  as  if  it  were  the  only  remedy;  but  in  some  of  these  states  this  kind  of 
stimulus  is  not  quite  safe,  and  in  none  of  them  is  it  absolutely  necessary. 

A  draught  of  bland  liquid,  as  simple  water,  or  sweetened  water,  or  milk  and 
water,  or  cocoa,  or  some  other  simple  nutritious  substance,  as  some  liquid  fari- 
naceous preparation,  or  the  pulpy  or  juicy  part  of  fruits  ;  or  the  tea  of  some 
aromatic  herb  ;  or  a  drop  or  two  of  one  of  the  essential  oils,  as  those  of  the  mint 
tribe,  diffused  in  water  by  the  aid  of  sugar,  or  a  small  dose  of  carbonate  of  am- 
monia; or  simple  ammonia  well  diluted  with  water — taken,  one  or  more  of 
them,  at  a  temperature  suited  to  the  state  of  the  stomach  and  of  the  circulation, 
and  repeated  at  proper  intervals,  will  accomplish  every  good  purpose  of  alcohol- 
ic stimulants,  and  in  most  cases  with  less  exposure  of  some  of  the  functions  to 
undue  or  dangerous  excitation.  In  the  prostration,  for  example,  occasioned  by 
long  exposure  to  cold,  the  introduction  of  a  stimulus  so  exciting  and  unconge- 
nial as  distilled  spirit  into  the  stomach,  makes  an  impression  upon  its  nerves  too 
strong  and  unnatural,  and  a  transition  from  a  state  of  languor  and  exhaustion 
to  that  of  activity,  too  sudden  to  comport  with  an  economical  expenditure  of 

* '  Camphor  is  soluble  In  strong  acetic  acid.' — Turner's  Chemistry. 


48  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [502 

the  vital  power,  tending  to  create  a  predisposition  to  some  form  of  disease,  if 
not  speedily  to  excite  it. 

Captain  Harding  gives  his  own  experience  as  follows  :  '  In  answer  to  your 
eighth  question,  I  say,  that  when  I  was  in  the  habit  of  using  ardent  spirits  when 
wet  and  fatigued  at  sea,  on  going  below  to  refresh  and  shift  myself,  I  thought  a 
little  tnddy  was  absolutely  necessary  to  prevent  taking  cold  ;  but  now  that  I  am 
more  than  fifty  years  old,  I  can  get  wet,  cold,  and  fatigued,  go  below  and  put  on 
dry  clothes,  and,  if  thirsty,  take  a  drink  of  water,  and  feel  no  inconvenience 
whatever;  so  that  in  this  case  I  answer  from  actual  experience. 

SAMUEL  HARDING,  master,  ship  Romulus,  of  Brunswick,  Me.' 

Vide  Letter  to  Mr.  Delavan,  American  Quarterly  Temperance  Magazine  for 
August,  1834. 

In  a  complete  syncope,  or  fainting  fit,  cold  water  dashed  upon  the  head  and 
face;  ammonia,  or  some  essential  oil,  or  both,  passed  into  the  nostrils,  or  into 
the  mouth  and  throat,  will  do  more  than  any  preparation  of  alcohol,  towards  a 
speedy  and  effectual  resuscitation. 

Ammonia  and  the  essential  oils  exert  an  agency  different  in  kind  from  that 
made  by  alcohol.  If  in  a  sense  they  are  diffusible,  their  impressions  beinc  read- 
ily transmitted  from  one  part  to  another,  they  are  not  intoxicating.  They  seem 
to  stimulate  the  brain  only  indirectly,  perhaps  through  the  medium  of  a  slightly 
increased  action  of  the  blood-vessels,  causing,  like  muscular  exertion,  a  brisker 
motion  of  the  blood  in  the  brain  ;  but  they  do  not  make  the  same  apparently 
direct,  unnatural,  poisonous,  bewildering,  and  exhausting  impression  upon  the 
whole  power  of  the  brain  and  nerves,  as  that  which  is  derived  from  alcoholic 
stimulus. 

In  dyspepsy,  the  alcoholic  treatment  is  now  fortunately  almost  universally 
abandoned.  Experience  has  at  length  taught  physicians  that  the  irritations, 
chronic  or  subacute,  of  the  lining  membrane  of  the  alimentary  canal,  the  capri- 
cious excitements  of  the  nervous  system,  and  the  slight  but  obstinate  deviations 
from  the  healthy  standard  in  the  circulation,  may  be  more  easilv  and  perma- 
nently controlled,  under  the  influence  of  a  plain  diet,  suitable  clothing,  bathing, 
frictions,  exercise  in  the  open  air,  proper  hours  for  sleep,  and  a  light  and  agree- 
able occupation  of  the  mind,  than  under  the  use  of  any  kind  of  intoxicating 
drink,  in  any  manner  administered. 

In  strumous  constitutions,  and  under  the  local  developments  of  scrofula,  ar- 
dent spirit  was  formerly  emploj-ed.  But  who,  at  this  day,  would  think  of  plac- 
ing it  in  competition  with  the  preparations  of  iodine,  employed  at  the  hospital 
of  St.  Louis  in  Paris,  and  in  other  places,  joined  with  proper  diet,  bathing,  fric- 
tions, exercise,  air,  &c? 

In  the  whole  range  of  nervous  diseases,  alcohol,  in  any  shape,  is  entitled  to 
but  very  limited  confidence.  It  seems  to  be  incapable  of  doing  any  thing  better 
than  to  cause  a  transient  alleviation,  while  its  ultimate  effects  are  pernicious; 
wih  the  exception  perhaps  of  that  state  of  the  brain  and  nerves  exemplified  in 
traumatic  tetanus,  which  requires  a  narcotic  influence.  For  this  purpose  the 
combinations  of  morphia,  either  internally  given,  or  externally  applied,  espe- 
cially to  a  blistered  surface,  are  to  be  preferred.  A  tonic  or  sustaining  power  in 
the  treatment  of  this  disorder  may  better  be  derived  from  the  judicious  use,  in 
addition  to  the  morphia,  of  some  vegetable  tonic,  as  the  sulphate  of  quinia, 
joined  perhaps  with  carbonate  of  ammonia,  than  from  spirituous  drinks. 

In  inflammations,  whether  deep-seated  or  superficial,  the  vascular  and  nervous 
irritations  are  usually  observed  to  be  increased  by  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors, 
sometimes  a  soothing  effect  is  seen  to  follow  the  application  of  spirit  to  an 
inflamed  part.  But  how  is  this  accomplished,  if  the  internal  exhibition  of  it 
be  pernicious?  Without  much  doubt,  by  the  great  abstraction  of  morbid  heat 
caused  by  the  rapid  evaporation  of  the  spirit  from  the  inflamed  part,  and  by  its 
anodyne  or  stupifying  influence,  which  is  ultimately  exerted  upon  the  irritated 
nerves,  unremittingly  drenched  in  it  by  its  persevering  application.  The  brain, 
at  the  same  time,  and  the  nerves  not  directly  involved  in  the  inflammation, 
receive  but  a  slight  impulse  from  the  spirit  so  circumscribed  in  its  application ; 


503] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  49 


the  morbid  impression  they  may  receive  from  the  medicine  being  more  than 
compensated  for  by  the  diminution  of  local  heat  and  irritation. 

The  persevering  local  use  of  alcohol  appears  to  enfeeble,  as  it  might  be  expec- 
ted to  do,  the  vital  powers  of  the  part,  while  water  may  be  applied  for  any  length 
of  time  required  by  the  inflammation,  without  an  undue  local  exhaustion  of 
vitality. 

In  a  case  of  simple  fracture  of  the  leg  of  a  boy,  several  years  ago,  in  which 
common  spirit  diluted  with  water  was  locally  employed  for  two  or  three  weeks, 
there  was  in  five  weeks  so  slight  a  union  of  the  fracture  that  a  very  small  force 
broke  it  down.  This  effect  seemed  fairly  to  be  attributable,  chiefly  at  least,  to 
the  influence  of  the  spirit,  in  part  over  and  above  what  resulted  from  tbe  escape 
of  heat  by  evaporation  ;  especially  as  the  limb  was  so  covered  as  to  prevent  the 
sensation  of  cold,  the  fragments  were  kept  in  undisturbed  contact,  and  the  gen- 
eral health  was  pretty  good.  A  considerable  number  of  surgeons  at  the  present 
day  prefer  simple  water  to  every  other  lotion  for  the  purpose  of  moderating  ex- 
cessive excitement  in  local  inflammation. 

In  the  treatment  of  gangrene,  intoxicating  drinks  bear  no  comparison  with 
opium  or  the  salts  of  morphia,  carbonate  of  ammonia,  and  sulphate  of  quinia. 

To  the  morbid  conditions  of  the  system  in  fevers,  alcohol,  as  a  remedial  agent, 
is  far  from  being  well  adapted.  It  bears  no  comparison  with  the  sulphate  of 
quinia  as  an  article  suited  to  break  up  the  morbid  associations  in  intermittent  and 
remittent  fevers  after  suitable  evacuations. 

In  the  apyrexia,  or  remission  of  the  paroxysm  of  continued  fever,  there  are 
probably  but  few  physicians  in  our  country  who  have  seen  a  large  febrile  prac- 
tice the  last  twenty-five  years,  who  have  not  had  occasion  to  regret  its  unfa- 
vorable effects.  Under  the  stimulant  practice,  trains  of  morbid  symptoms  are 
often  aggravated,  new  centres  of  irritation  established,  and  which,  if  not  suffi- 
cient to  destroy  the  patient,  prolong  the  period  of  the  fever,  and  frequently  cause 
relapses,  or  a  lingering  and  interrupted  convalescence.  In  the  occasional  states 
of  depression  occurring  in  continued  fever,  those  internal  stimulants  should  be 
preferred,  if  any  be  used,  which  exhaust  the  nervous  power  less  than  the  intoxi- 
cating articles.  In  this  connection  may  be  named  the  carbonate  of  ammonia, 
camphor,  and  some  of  the  essential  oils. 

In  the  collapse  and  prostration  of  cholera  the  spirit  practice  is  now  very  gen- 
erally acknowledged  to  have  been  unfortunate.  Indeed  it  would  have  been  re- 
markable if  an  article  which  so  strongly  predisposes  to  this  disease  as  alcoholic 
stimulus  should  have  proved  to  be  its  best  remedy.  The  evidence  of  the  mis- 
chievous effects  of  spirituous  drinks  in  cholera  is  too  generally  diffused  to  requiie 
its  being  introduced  here  in  a  formal  manner.  Ice,  cold  water,  or  even  ice  in 
small  bits,  swallowed  at  short  intervals,  may  be  more  relied  on  for  allaying  the 
deadly  nausea  of  cholera  than  any  form  of  intoxicating  liquor.  For  the  purpose 
of  restoring  the  strength  in  the  debility  which  follows  acute  disease,  is  alcohol 
necessary  ? 

If  the  fever  or  inflammation  have  been  early  treated  with  the  proper  evacu- 
ants,  and  the  progress  duly  watched,  and  local  determinations  prevented  or  ob- 
viated, the  debility  which  remains  on  the  subsidence  of  the  disease  is  easily  re- 
moved. The  patient  may  be  greatly  reduced  in  strength,  but  when  free  from 
disease,  his  convalescence  is  rapid  under  the  most  simple  treatment.  But  when 
the  stimulant  plan  has  been  perseveringly  pursued  with  a  view  to  remove  the 
disease,  or  the  debility  subsequent  to  it,  how  often  if  the  constitution  can  resist 
the  action  both  of  the  disease  and  the  medicines,  is  the  patient  observed  to  lin- 
ger for  weeks,  and  perhaps  months,  before  his  health  is  re-established  ;  and  how 
often  is  he  subjected  to  some  new  form  of  disease,  either  subacute  or  chronic,  or 
perhaps  both  in  succession ;  a  cough,  or  difficult  breathing  from  bronchial  or 
thoracic  irritation  or  effusion,  an  enfeebled  and  irregular  action  of  the  alimentive 
organs,  a  swollen  limb,  &c.  In  illustration  of  these  remarks,  the  following 
sketches  of  actual  cases  are  given,  the  facts  of  which  may  be  fully  relied  on. 

Dr.  R.,  8et.  twenty-five,  possessing  a  good  constitution,  had,  in  February  1806, 
a  severe  typhus  fever  which  showed  symptoms  of  crisis  on  the  twentieth  day. 
He  took,  early  in  the  disease,  purgative  doses  containing  calomel,  and  afterwards 
small  doses  at  short  intervals  of  the  same  article,  which  in  ten  or  twelve  days 
occasioned  a  slight  soreness  of  the  mouth  ;  soon  after  this,  apthee  being  observed 
5  7 


50  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [504 

in  the  throat,  bark  and  wine  were  prescribed.  The  bark  however  was  soon 
omitted  on  account  of  the  great  distress  it  seemed  to  have  occasioned  at  the  pit 
of  the  stomach,  but  the  wine  was  continued.  In  three  or  four  days  after  the 
symptoms  of  crisis  were  observed,  a  cough  arose  which  was  very  troublesome 
for  about  a  week,  but  as  it  subsided  a  swelling  attended  with  pain  and  heat 
seized  the  whole  left  lower  limb.  In  six  weeks  from  the  attack  of  the  fever  the 
patient  began  by  the  aid  of  a  staff  to  hobble  out  of  his  chamber.  The  swelling 
of  the  limb,  however,  although  bandaging  was  employed  for  several  weeks,  was 
never  wholly  removed  ;  and  from  that  day  to  the  present,  upwards  of  twenty- 
seven  years,  the  leg  has  exhibited  a  varicose  state  of  its  superficial  veins,  and 
the  whole  limb  including  the  foot  has  been  larger  and  less  vigorous  than  the 
other,  proving  that  its  organization  was  permanently  affected.  Before  the  fever, 
and  until  after  the  crisis,  this  limb  was,  in  the  estimation  of  the  patient,  as  sound 
in  every  respect  as  the  other.  If  in  this  case  the  processes  of  nature  had  not 
been  interfered  with  by  an  unnatural  excitation  of  the  nerves  and  bloodvessels, 
is  it  probable  that  any  form  of  local  disease  would  have  shown  itself  simply  as 
the  effect  of  the  fever  ?  One  result  rather  inconvenient  to  the  patient  as  he  has 
often  remarked,  of  the  use  of  wine  during  his  convalescence  was  the  acquisi- 
tion of  a  strong  relish  for  that  beverage  which  he  had  never  before  felt,  and 
which  at  various  periods  since  it  has  required  some  effort  properly  to  control. 

'Mr.  F.,  ost.  eighteen,  tall,  and  of  fair  complexion,  having  I  believe  always 
enjoyed  good  health,  was  attacked  with  continued  fever  in  autumn.  He  was 
bled  repeatedly,  and  took  purgatives  and  antimonials.  At  the  end  of  the  second 
week  it  was  thought  that  he  would  bear  tonics.  Mild  articles  were  resorted  to, 
and  continued  about  a  week.  The  symptoms  remaining  nearly  the  same,  sul- 
phate of  quinia  and  wine  were  prescribed.  In  a  few  days  he  had  cough  and  diffi- 
cult breathing,  with  symptoms  of  effusion  in  the  chest.  Auscultation  readily 
detected  a  fluid  in  the  right  cavity.  Blisters  and  diuretics  with  active  cathartics 
were  now  employed.  He  was  soon  relieved,  and  in  about  a  week  his  symptoms 
were  very  much  as  when  he  began  to  take  the  wine  and  quinia,  excepting  that 
the  debility  was  greater.  Wine  and  the  sulphate  of  quinia  were  again  given,  and 
soon  the  same  train  of  symptoms  appeared  as  before,  with  an  effusion  of  fluid,  in 
the  left  cavity  of  the  chest.  Under  the  use  of  diuretics  and  blisters,  these  symp- 
toms were  removed. 

A  third  time  the  wine  and  quinia  were  resorted  to,  and  the  result  was  a  swell- 
ing of  one  of  the  lower  limbs  with  heat  and  pain,  resembling  somewhat  the 
appearances  in  phlegmasia  dolens.  All  tonics  and  stimulants  were  now  laid 
aside,  and  at  a  time  when  he  was  unable  to  turn  himself  in  bed.  A  mild  diet 
was  now  prescribed,  together  with  ablutions  and  frictions  ;  and  he  very  gradually 
and  uniformly  recovered,  so  as  to  have  acquired  a  tolerable  degree  of  health  in 
about  four  months. 

In  the  course  of  the  treatment,  valerian,  carbonate  of  soda,  carbonate  of  am- 
monia, camphor,  serpentaria,  and  sulphuric  acid,  were  employed.  We  varied 
the  combination  of  the  medicines  a  great  many  times  ;  a  measure  which  seemed 
to  be  rendered  necessary  by  sickness  at  the  stomach  which  invariably  followed 
each  combination  in  a  day  or  two.  At  the  time  when  he  rejected  stimulants, 
and  in  fact  all  medicines,  he  could  retain  articles  of  food.' 

Mr.  H.  set.  twenty-five,  of  a  fine  constitution,  had  remittent  fever.  In  one 
full  day  of  his  sickness,  that  is  in  twenty-four  hours,  he  took  three  pints  of 
brandy,  and  in  addition,  a  small  pill  of  opium  every  two  hours,  besides  a  small 
dose  of  sulphate  of  quinia  at  the  same  interval  through  the  night.  Spirit  was 
taken  freely  for  several  days,  although  the  quantity,  as  well  as  that  of  the  opium 
and  quinia,  cannot  be  vouched  for.  Two  years  after  this  sickness  the  patient 
had  not  recovered  his  health,  but  was  still  feeble,  with  impaired  digestion,  and 
swollen  limbs. 

But  there  are  agents  of  higher  importance  than  alcohol  or  fermented  liquors, 
which  may  safely  be  employed  to  sustain  the  sinking  powers  in  fevers,  and  to 
restore  the  lost  strength  after  they  have  subsided. 

Of  these,  the  first  to  be  named  is  pure  air.  '  I  believe,'  says  Mr.  James  in 
his  valuable  work  on  inflammation,  '  there  is  no  poison  more  injurious  than  foul 
air  —  no  restorative  more  effectual  than  pure  air ;  and  it  runs  no  risk  of  dis- 
ordering the  digestive  organs,  as  bark  often  does,  or  stimulating  the  vessels  too 


505]  EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  51 

much,  like  wine.'  The  restorative  powers  of  the  blood  depend  on  its  purity, 
and  the  purity  of  this  fluid  cannot  be  secured  without  pure  air  ;  hence  the  abso- 
lute necessity  of  the  most  strict  and  persevering  attention  to  ventilation  and 
cleanliness. 

Another  agent  is  water.  This  is  the  proper  beverage  when  a  beverage  is 
needed.  Nothing  is  so  grateful  in  the  thirst  of  fever,  and  nothing  so  good  ;  and 
its  febrifuge,  as  well  as  tonic  or  invigorating  power,  judiciously  applied  to  the 
surface  of  the  body  is  most  striking.  Either  pure,  or  impregnated  with  soap,  or 
saline  substances,  it  may  be  used  by  way  of  affusion,  ablution,  or  sponging,  at  a 
temperature  warm,  cool,  or  cold,  according  to  circumstances.  The  successful 
use  of  cold  water  by  Dr.  Currie  applied  to  the  body  in  fevers  is  well  known. 

Dr.  Robert  Jackson,  speaking  of  the  fevers  of  Jamaica,  says,  that '  after  obvi- 
ating particular  symptoms  of  a  fatal  tendency,  it  was  the  principal  indication  to 
support  the  general  powers  of  life,  or  to  excite  the  tone  and  vigor  of  the  system.' 
For  this  purpose  he  mentions  '  cold  bathing'  as  '  the  most  important  remedy 
in  the  cure  of  the  fevers  of  the  West  Indies.'  For  the  purpose  of  removing  the 
prostration  and  languor  accompanying  a  form  of  fever  prone  to  attack  foreigners 
arriving  in  hot  climates,  he  observes,  that  '  the  principal  trust  was  placed  in 
warm  and  cold  bathing,  which  under  proper  management  seldom  failed  of 
answering  every  expectation  completely,  or  of  speedily  removing  the  chief  symp- 
toms of  danger.'  This  gentleman  was  in  the  habit  of  frequently  impregnating 
the  water  strongly  with  common  salt. 

Often  have  I  witnessed  in  fits  of  distressing  prostration,  joined  sometimes 
with  great  irritability  of  the  nerves,  both  during  and  after  tlie^  subsidence  of  the 
severity  of  acute  disease,  a  far  more  refreshing  and  invigorating  effect  from 
eponging  the  head,*  body  and  limbs  with  simple  water,  or  weak  warm  soap- 
suds, followed  by  gentle  friction,  than  from  any  doses  of  spirit,  wine,  or  porter, 
I  have  ever  seen  administered.  It  is  a  striking  remark  of  the  celebrated  IIorE- 
Eian,  that  if  there  be  in  nature  a  universal  remedy,  that  remedy  is  water. 

Among  the  means  of  restoring  the  strength,  one  of  great  value  is  exercise, 
especially  in  the  open  air.  Indeed  there  seems  to  be  no  adequate  substitute  for 
this  remedy.  Who  has  not  felt  its  invigorating  effects?  Dr.  Jackson,  already 
quoted,  observed  the  most  happy  effects  in  the  restoration  of  the  bodily  powers 
reduced  by  yellow  fever,  from  his  patients,  when  too  weak  to  raise  their  heads, 
being  carried  out  daily  in  carts  or  wagons.  Passive  exercise  in  the  sick  cham- 
ber, or  the  removal  from  it  to  an  adjoining  room  on  a  truckle-bed  or  chair,  may 
be  made  very  useful  to  the  sick  patient,  when  his  strength  is  too  much  reduced 
to  admit  of  his  being  carried  abroad. 

In  addition  to  the  common  articles  of  plain,  unstimulating  food,  may  be  men- 
tioned as  an  important  restorative  agent,  fresh,  ripe  fruit.  This,  especially  if 
acidulo-saccharine  and  juicy,  often  presents  to  the  stomach  precisely  the  stimu- 
lus it  craves,  and  may  be  borne  when  spirit  and  wine  cannot  be  taken  without 
disturbing  the  circulation.  The  man  who  shall  invent  a  cheap  and  easy  method 
of  preserving  without  decay  the  well  ripened,  juicy,  and  pulpy  fruits,  will  be 
entitled  to  the  thanks  of  succeeding  generations.  Could  the  grape,  instead  of 
being  manufactured  into  wine,  be  carried  fresh  and  distributed  freely  in  distant 
countries,  in  place  of  the  intoxicating  liquor  with  which  it  now  supplies  them,  an 
unspeakable  amount  of  health  and  comfort  would  result  to  the  human  family. 

With  prescribed  attention  to  ventilation,  cleanliness,  ablutions,  and  frictions, 
plain,  nourishing  food,  including  often  fresh  fruits,  joined  with  early  and  perse- 
vering exercise,  I  have  known  patients  to  recover  with  a  rapidity  greater  than  I 
remember  to  have  observed  from  any  use  whatever  of  intoxicating  drinks  and 
narcotics. 

Under  a  more  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  functions  of  life,  and  with  the 
influences  exerted  upon  it  by  remedial  agents,  may  it  not  be  hoped  that  the  pe- 
riod will  arrive  when  not  only  ardent  spirit,  but  all  intoxicating  liquors,  will  be 
regarded  as  not  absolutely  necessary  in  the  practice  of  physic  or  surgery?  It 
may  perhaps  be  worth  remarking,  that  throughout  the  wide-spread  kingdoms  of 
animal  and  vegetable  nature,  not  a  particle  of  alcohol  in  any  form  or  combina- 
tion whatever  has  been  found  as  the  effect  of  a  single  living  process,  but  that  it 

*  The  hair  having  been  previously  sheared  off. 


52  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [506 

arises  only  out  of  the  decay,  the  dissolution,  and  the  wreck  of  organized  matter, 
or  of  its  ever  varied  and  wonderful  productions  ;  and  is  it  probable  that  the  be- 
neficent author  of  such  a  countless  multitude  of  medicinal  agents  as  exist  in  the 
products  of  vital  action,  would  have  left,  to  be  generated  among  the  results  of 
destructive  chemistry,  an  article  essential  to  the  successful  treatment  even  of  a 
single  disease  ? 

The  profession  of  medicine  has  an  extensive  scope.  It  looks  into  the  struc- 
ture of  animal  machinery,  it  investigates  the  laws  of  its  vital  movements,  both 
in  health  and  disease,  and  contemplates  a  variety  of  influences  by  which  its  com- 
plicated processes  are  accelerated,  retarded,  suspended,  or  destroyed.  It  learns, 
that  to  the  functions  of  life  belongs  a  standard  rate  of  action,  beyond  which  they 
cannot  be  safely  excited  or  driven  ;  that  alcoholic  and  narcotic  stimulants  de- 
range and  confuse  the  healthy  movements,  exhaust  the  vital  power  more  than 
nature  intended,  and  induce  premature  decay,  and  dissolution.  This  profession 
claims  the  strictest  alliance  with  the  cause  of  humanity  ;  it  cherishes  good  will, 
and  proffers  substantial  blessings  to  men.  It  extends  its  hand  not  onlv  to  the  ex- 
hausted, bed-ridden  patient,  and  to  the  tottering  and  dejected  invalid,  but  even 
to  the  healthy  man,  to  save  him  from  the  pain  and  suffering  which  ignorance,  or 
custom,  or  recklessness  might  bring  upon  him. 

Let  physicians  then  be  true  to  their  profession.  Let  them  study  the  duties 
they  owe  to  the  communities  with  whom  they  live  and  labor.  Let  them  teach 
the  means  of  preserving  health,  as  well  as  of  combating  disease  ;  let  them  show, 
as  it  is  in  their  power  to  do,  that  the  taking  of  medicine  in  health  in  order  to  pre- 
vent disease  is  most  absurd  and  mischievous;  that  the  surest  guarantee  of  health 
is  a  correct  regimen,  and  that  the  best  treatment  of  acute  disease  is  often  very 
simple. 

Let  them  explain,  as  far  as  practicable  to  those  around  them,  the  mechanism 
of  their  physical  organization,  and  when  it  can  be  done,  "  knife  in  hand,"  the 
work  will  be  easy.  Let  them  expound,  so  far  as  known,  the  beautiful  and  har- 
monious laws  enstamped  upon  this  organization,  by  which  its  complicated  move- 
ments and  diversified  phenomena  are  sustained  :  laws  as  immutable  in  their  na- 
ture, and  inflexible  in  their  operation,  as  those  that  hold  the  planetary  system 
together ;  and  like  them  originating  in  the  same  incomprehensible  and  mighty 
mind,  which,  acting  in  the  strength  of  its  own  philanthropy  and  unchangeable- 
ness,  gave  to  man  a  moral  code  from  amidst  the  smoke  and  thunders  of  Sinai. 
No  law  coming  from  this  high  source  can  be  violated  with  impunity;  and  he 
who  infringes  a  law  of  the  vital  economy,  receives,  in  an  injury  done  to  the 
machinery  of  life,  the  penalty  of  his  transgression  with  no  less  certainty  than  he 
who  leaps  from  a  tower  heedless  of  gravitation.  With  all  its  given  power  of 
accommodation  to  circumstances,  no  possible  training  or  education  of  this  ma- 
chinery can  change  the  nature  of  its  primitive  adaptations,  and  make  an  article 
congenial  and  healthful,  which  was  originally  repulsive  and  noxious.  No  hu- 
man ingenuity  or  perseverance  can  render  impure  air  as  wholesome  as  that 
which  is  pure,  or  any  form  of  intoxicating  liquor  as  healthful  as  water. 

So  long  as  alcohol  retains  a  place  among  sick  patients,  so  long  there  will  be 
drunkards;  and  who  would  undertake  to  estimate  the  amount  of  responsibility 
assumed  by  that  physician  who  prescribes  to  the  enfeebled,  dyspeptic  patient 
the  daily  internal  use  of  spirit,  while  at  the  same  time  he  knows  that  this  simple 
prescription  may  ultimately  ruin  his  health,  make  him  a  vagabond,  shorten  his 
life,  and  cut  him  off  from  the  hope  of  heaven.  Time  was  when  it  was  used 
only  as  a  medicine,  and  who  will  dare  to  offer  a  guaranty  that  it  shall  not  again 
overspread  the  world  with  disease  and  death  ? 

Ardent  spirit — already  under  sentence  of  public  condemnation,  and  with  the 
prospect  of  undergoing  an  entire  exclusion  from  the  social  circle,  and  the  do- 
mestic fire-side — still  lingers  in  the  sick  chamber,  the  companion  and  pretended 
friend  of  its  suffering  inmates.  It  rests  with  medical  men  to  say  how  long  this 
unalterable,  unrelenting  foe  of  the  human  race  shall  remain  secure  in  this  sa- 
cred, but  usurped  retreat.  They  have  the  power,  and  theirs  is  the  duty  to  per- 
form the  mighty  exorcism.  Let  the  united  effort  soon  be  made,  and  the  fiend 
be  thrust  forth  from  this  strong  but  unnatural  alliance  and  companionship  with 
men,  and  cast  into  that  '  outer  darkness,'  which  lies  beyond  the  precincts  of 
human  suffering  and  human  enjoyment. 


507] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  53 


The  following  Extracts  are  from  a  Prize  Essay,  by  Harvey  Ldndsly,  M.  D.  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  to  lehom  a  similar  premium  was  awarded  as  to  Dr.  Mussey,  and 
by  the  same  Committee. 

"effects  of  inebriety  on  the  offspring  of  intemperate  parents. 

There  can  be  no  dnubt,  for  it  is  as  well  established  as  any  other  fact  in  medi- 
cine, that  the  temperament,  general  degree  of  health,  habits,  predispositions, 
&c,  of  the  parent  are  very  apt  to  descend  to  the  child.  And  if  the  health  of 
the  father  or  mother  has  been  impaired  by  a  long  course  of  inebriety,  or  their 
intellectual  power  much  deteriorated,  we  may  expect  to  see  its  lamentable  con- 
sequences in  the  debilitated  bodies  and  enervated  minds  of  their  unhappy  pro- 
geny. Probably  this  effect  is  more  striking,  and  its  results  more  appalling, 
where  the  mother  is  a  devotee  of  this  disgusting  practice,  than  if  the  father  on- 
ly be  in  the  habit  of  it.  The  influence  of  the  mother's  habits  over  the  physical 
as  well  as  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of  the  children  seems  to  be  of  a 
more  decided  nature  than  that  of  the  father.  How  doubly  awful  then  does  the 
guilt  of  this  vice  appear  when  viewed  in  this  two-fold  aspect ! 

In  connection  with  the  influence  of  the  mother's  habits  upon  the  health  and 
constitution  of  the  child,  we  cannot  too  strongly  reprobate  the  pernicious  prac- 
tice, still  but  too  common,  of  nursing  women  employing  brandy  and  other  alco- 
holic stimulants,  in  order,  as  is  said,  to  afford  them  strength  to  sustain  the  new 
call  made  upon  them.  To  say  nothing  of  the  danger  to  the  mother  herself  of 
forming  in  this  way  habits  of  intemperance,  is  there  not  great  danger  of  seri- 
ously affecting  the  health  of  the  child,  if  not  of  early  instilling  into  it  a  taste 
for  ardent  spirits?  We  all  know  that  the  milk  of  the  nurse  is  not  a  little  influ- 
enced by  the  diet  and  medicines  she  may  use.  The  infant  can  be  purged  by  oil 
or  calomel  taken  by  the  nurse :  and  have  we  not  as  much  reason  to  fear  that  the 
employment  of  such  powerful  agents  as  brandy,  cordials,  &c,  may  exert  an 
equally  powerful  influence  upon  the  tender  and  susceptible,  and  excitable  frame 
of  an  infant?  We  have  all  seen  these  deleterious  influences,  when  the  intem- 
perate habits  of  the  parents  have  been  carried  to  a  very  great  extent,  in  the  pro- 
duction of  dropsy  of  the  brain,  imbecility  of  mind,  and  a  long  train  of  physical 
and  intellectual  evils,  which  perhaps  at  the  time  may  have  been  attributed  to 
hereditary  predisposition,  or  to  other  causes.  There  cannot  be  the  least  excuse 
for  this  indulgence  on  the  part  of  the  nurse,  for  it  is  not  only  always  useless, 
but  positively  injurious. 

Dr.  North  remarks,  that  children  nursed  by  intemperate  women  are  peculiar- 
ly liable  to  derangements  of  the  digestive  organs,  and  convulsive  affections;  and 
that  he  has  seen  the  latter  almost  instantly  removed  by  the  child  being  trans- 
ferred to  a  temperate  woman. 

A  suitable  and  nutritious  diet  will  be  amply  sufficient  to  sustain  a  woman 
while  nursing,  and  she  may  rest  assured  will  be  much  more  conducive  to  her 
own  health  and  that  of  her  tender  charge,  than  the  artificial  stimulus  of  ardent 
spirits  can  possibly  be. 

do  alcoholic  stimulants  contribute  to  strength? 

This  question  has  at  different  times  given  rise  to  no  little  discussion,  but  it 
seems  at  last  irreversibly  decided  in  the  negative.  The  idea  which  formerly 
prevailed,  that  alcoholic  liquors  contribute  permanently  to  strength,  arose  no 
doubt  from  the  temporary  feelings  of  excitement  and  apparent  strength  which 
they  occasion.  But  these  illusions  have  long  since  vanished  before  the  reason- 
ings and  observations  of  a  more  correct  philosophy,  and  a  more  extended 
experience. 

The  different  degrees  of  debility,  which  may  of  course  vary  from  the  slight- 
est degree  of  exhaustion  to  almost  total  prostration,  can  be  relieved  by  two 
methods,  the  one  gradual,  the  other  rapid.  The  gradual  mode  consists  in  em- 
ploying sleep,  rest,  and  food,  or  in  other  words  accumulating  the  vital  principle: 
the  rapid  mode  is  by  the  application  of  diffusible  stimuli,  i.  e.,  calling  into  action 
5* 


54  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETF.  [505 

the  vital  principle  which  remains ;  as  in  syncope  we  apply  ammonia,  or  any 
other  pungent  odor,  to  the  nostrils. 

Now  the  question  is,  which  of  these  modes,  the  rapid  or  the  gradual,  is  most 
likely  to  answer  the  purpose?  No  one  can  doubt  a  moment  as  to  the  answer. 
The  one  is  the  order  of  nature — the  other  is  artificial  —  the  one,  although  more 
dilatory  in  its  operation,  is  unattended  by  any  unpleasant  consequences  ;  while  the 
other  is  sure  to  be  followed  by  lassitude  and  depression  exactly  proportioned  to 
the  amount  of  excitement  and  stimulus  applied  and  felt. 

In  the  beautiful  and  expressive  language  of  another,  the  stimulant  restoratives 
may  be  compared  to  a  '  stream  which  nourishes  a  plant  upon  its  bank,  and  caus- 
es it  to  flourish  and  blossom  to  the  sight,  while  at  the  same  moment  it  is  under- 
mining it  at  the  root.' 

Rest,  sleep,  and  food,  are  amply  sufficient  to  repair  the  fatigue  and  restore  the 
exhausted  energy  of  all  animated  existence  — '  they  are  sufficient  for  the  tribe 
in  the  branches  of  the  forest,  and  for  the  deer  which  range  below,  for  the  flock 
on  the  mountain's  side,  and  for  the  herd  in  the  pasture  of  the  valley.  They  are 
sufficient  for  the  elephant,  for  the  tiger,  and  the  lion' — but  man,  poor  deluded 
man  !  not  satisfied  with  nature's  ample  provision  for  the  restoration  of  strength, 
and  the  preservation  of  health,  must  have  recourse  to  alcoholic  stimulants. 
The  absurdity  of  such  a  course  is  strongly  depicted  by  Milton  in  speaking  of 
Samson. 

'O  madness  !  to  think  use  of  strongest  wines 
And  strongest  drinks  our  chief  support  of  health, 
When  God,  with  these  forbidden,  made  choice  to  rear 
His  mighty  champion,  strong  above  compare, 
Whose  drink  was  only  from  the  liquid  brook.' 

Who  would  think  of  applying  the  whip  or  the  spur  to  a  jaded  and  exhausted 
horse,  in  order  to  increase  his  strength,  and  restore  his  accustomed  vigor?  Yet 
such  a  course  is  not  more  ridiculous  or  absurd  than  that  man's  who  employs 
brandy,  or  rum,  or  gin  to  invigorate  his  enervated  stomach  when  disordered  by 
improper  diet,  or  long  fasting,  or  excessive  fatigue  —  in  both  instances,  to  be 
sure,  new  life  and  fresh  animation,  and  apparent  strength  would  be  imparted, 
but  we  all  know  that  the  horse  will  eventually  yield  sooner  than  if  a  more  mer- 
ciful and  rational  course  had  been  adopted ;  and  so  it  is  with  the  wretched  ine- 
briate who  relies  for  aid  on  the  stimulus  of  ardent  spirits. 

It  is  an  undoubted  fact  that  some  periods  of  life  can  bear  the  excitement  of 
alcoholic  stimulants  with  less  injury  than  others.  Probably  the  most  injurious 
time  of  administering  spirituous  potations  is  in  infancy  and  early  youth.  At 
this  tender  age  the  fibres  are  more  susceptible  of  excitement  and  irritation,  the 
functions  are  more  easily  disordered,  and  the  foundation  may  be  laid  of  future 
disease  which  may  then  be  incurable.  The  intellectual  and  moral  faculties 
seem  also  at  this  period  peculiarly  liable  to  deterioration;  and  we  doubt  not  that 
the  literary  progress  of  many  a  talented  child  has  been  impeded,  and  his  moral 
sense  deadened  by  the  early  administration  of  stimulating  drinks.  How  much 
then  is  this  ridiculous  and  disgusting  practice,  which  unfortunately  is  still  by 
no  means  uncommon  among  the  mothers  of  our  country,  to  be  deprecated  ! 

Indeed  the  absurdity  of  the  notion  that  the  use  of  alcoholic  stimulants  con- 
tributes to  permanent  strength  is  made  manifest  by  daily  observation,  as  well  as 
all  past  experience.  The  long  and  rapid  marches  of  the  ancient  Greek  and 
Roman  armies,  and  the  privations  and  labors  they  underwent,  are  much  greater 
than  could  be  endured  by  any  modern  European  soldiery  ;  and  yet  these  men 
drank  no  ardent  spirits.  Some  of  the  native  East  India  troops  in  the  employ- 
ment of  the  British  government  possess  the  same  power,  and  their  religious 
ideas  and  customs  deny  them  spirituous  liquors.  Sir  John  Moore's  army  were 
found  to  improve  in  health  during  their  distressing  march  to  Corunna  as  soon  as 
the  usual  allowance  of  ardent  spirits  was  unattainable. 

It  is  related  by  Niger  that  he  forbade  the  use  of  wine  in  his  army,  wishing 
the  soldiers  to  accustom  themselves  to  vinegar  mixed  with  water,  in  conformity 
with  the  ancient  regulation.  It  may  readily  be  imagined  that  such  a  reform 
would  give  great  offence  to  the  troops  :  but  Niger  was  resolute  :  and  some  sol- 
diers who  guarded  the  frontiers  of  Egypt,  having  one  day  asked  him  for  some 


509]        EIGHTH  REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  55 

wine — '  What  do  you  say,'  replied  he  to  them, '  you  have  the  Nile,  and  wine  is  un- 
necessary for  you.'  Upon  another  occasion,  some  of  his  troops,  being  conquered 
by  the  Saracens,  excused  themselves  upon  the  plea  of  weakness  owino-  to  this 
regulation.  '  An  excellent  reason,'  said  he,  '  for  your  conquerors  drink  nothing 
but  water.' 

In  what  manner  different  stimulants  when  taken  into  the  stomach  act  upon 
the  system  is  a  question  of  no  little  interest  to  the  pathologist  and  physiologist; 
and  yet  is  one  which  is  still  involved  in  great  obscurity.  The  mode  in  which 
these  substances  act  is  not  perhaps  absolutely  incomprehensible,  for  who  will 
dare  to  set  bounds  to  human  ingenuity,  or  to  say  that  there  are  any  laws  of  na- 
ture so  obscure  that  they  may  not  yet  yield  to  human  industry  ? 

But,  however  this  may  be,  we  are  at  least  certain  that  the  hypotheses  which 
have  hitherto  been  proposed  are  far  from  being  satisfactory  upon  this  point. 

Some  substances  when  taken  into  the  stomach  increase  the  activity  and  vigor 
of  all  the  organs  of  the  body  :  this  is  the  case  with  nourishing  food  of  all  kinds; 
with  tonics,  alcohol,  opium,  &c.     These  we  would  call  general  stimulants. 

There  are  other  substances  again  which,  when  taken  into  the  stomach,  in- 
crease the  activity  and  vigor  of  some  particular  organ  of  the  body,  as  tartar 
emetic,  castor  oil,  &c.     These  are  local  stimulants. 

Many  articles  belong  to  both  these  classes  :  but  all  stimulants  necessarily  in- 
crease action,  the  effect  being  proportioned  to  the  nature  of  the  article,  to  the 
quantity  taken,  to  the  frequency  of  its  repetition,  and  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  is  employed. 

There  is  a  great  difference,  not  only  in  the  manner,  but  the  rapidity  with 
which  different  stimulants  act.  Some  produce  their  effect  as  soon  as  taken  into 
the  stomach,  while  others  do  not,  except  after  long  and  frequent  repetition.  The 
former  are  generally  highly  diffusible,  and  their  operations  transitory — the  latter 
cause  more  permanent  changes,  and  effect  those  changes  by  obscure  and  almost 
imperceptible  gradations. 

It  would  seem  as  if  there  were  a  certain  amount  of  activity  and  of  motive 
power  in  the  human  system  which  alone  is  consistent  with  health,  or  there  is  a 
particular  proportion  in  the  activity  of  the  different  parts  of  the  living  system 
which  must  be  maintained  in  order  to  preserve  health.  When  this  proportion  is 
deranged,  or  this  activity  suddenly  and  rapidly  increased,  disease  and  sickness 
necessarily  follow.  All  highly  diffusible  stimulants  are  therefore,  from  the  very 
nature  of  their  action,  detrimental  to  health,  since  this  nice  proportion  —  this 
delicately  adjusted  equilibrium,  is  by  their  use  destroyed.  If  such  stimulants 
be  used  but  once,  or  but  seldom  repeated,  the  healthy  relation  between  the  action 
of  the  different  parts  of  the  body  may  be  quickly  restored  :  but  if  they  be  used 
habitually  and  frequently,  this  relation  is  forever  destroyed,  and  the  health  of 
the  wretched  victim  irrecoverably  undermined. 

But  it  does  not  follow  from  these  principles  that  stimulants  may  not  be  benefi- 
cial in  disease,  because  here  this  relation  is  already  lost,  and  stimulating  articles 
may  afford  the  only  remedy  by  which  the  equilibrium  can  be  restored.  We 
may  therefore  lay  it  down  as  an  incontrovertible  axiom,  that  stimulants  are  always 
injurious  in  health. 


SUBSTITUTES    FOR   ARDENT    SPIRITS    IN    THE    PRACTICE    OF    MEDICINE. 

It  cannot  have  escaped  the  observation  of  any  reflecting  man  that  the  medical 
use  of  ardent  spirits  has  frequently  been  the  immediate  cause  of  the  formation 
of  intemperate  habits.  Many  an  individual,  who  had  little  constitutional  fond- 
ness for  the  inebriating  draught,  and  whose  habits  were  such  as  seemed  pecu- 
liarly fitted  to  preserve  him  from  thi3  fell  destroyer,  has  mnde  wreck  of  every 
earthly  prospect  by  being  induced  to  resort  to  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  for  the  re- 
lief of  perhaps  some  trivial  complaint.  The  talented,  the  great,  and  the  learned, 
as  well  as  the  degraded,  the  humble,  and  the  ignorant,  have  thus  fallen  beneath 
the  withering  touch  of  this  soul-destroying  Moloch.  In  more  than  one  instance 
have  I  seen  the  able  and  hitherto  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel  laboring  under 
a  slight  attack  of  dyspepsy,  and,  by  the  advice  of  his  medical  attendant,  drink- 
ing daily  for  weeks  together  a  glass  of  brandy  and  water  until  he  has  gradually 


56  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  T510 

and  unconsciously  formed  a  taste,  and  acquired  a  relish  for  the  fatal  liquor,  which 
has  increased  in  strength,  and  acquired  a  firmer  and  firmer  grasp  upon  the  ener- 
vated mind  until  it  has  obtained  complete  mastery — and  the  wretched  victim  has 
made  shipwreck  of  conscience,  reputation,  friends,  eternity. 

There  are  various  other  ways  also  in  which  the  medical  use  of  ardent  spirits 
may  prove  the  forerunner  of  drunkenness.  It  is  a  very  common  practice  in 
some  parts  of  our  country  for  persons  to  resort  to  bitter  herbs,  as  wormwood, 
gentian,  chamomile,  &c,  steeped  in  ardent  spirits,  for  the  relief  of  a  slight  de- 
gree of  dyspepsy,  to  increase  their  strength,  and  give  them  an  appetite.  The 
whole  family  partake  of  this  bottle,  and  resort  is  regularly  had  to  it  three  or  four 
times  a  day.  I  defy  any  one  to  point  out  a  mode  more  exactly  fitted  to  convert 
the  most  sober  and  temperate  family  in  the  world  into  sots  than  this.  The  regu- 
lar, habitual,  daily  use  of  brandy  !  This  is  precisely  the  way  in  which  all  drunk- 
ards have  been  made.  They  always  drink  temperately  before  they  drink  in- 
temperately.  True,  they  are  all  this  while  taking  bitters,  and  that  too  perhaps 
by  the  advice  of  their  physician.  But  does  that  alter  the  case?  Are  they  not 
also  drinking  ardent  spirits?  And  will  they  not,  in  all  probability,  persevere  in 
their  downward  career  till  ruin  stares  them  in  the  face  ?  It  is  self-evident  thai 
such  a  course  is  not  one  whit  safer,  so  far  as  the  morals  of  the  individual  are  con- 
cerned, than  if  so  much  undiluted  brandy  had  been  taken. 

Is  it  not  then  the  solemn  duty  of  every  physician,  as  well  of  every  Christian, 
and  every  patriot,  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  dispense  with  an  article  the  use  of 
which  is  surrounded  and  accompanied  by  such  tremendous  dangers  ?  Grant  that 
in  most  cases  there  is  little  risk  of  this  becoming  so  fixed  a  habit  that  the  patient 
cannot  at  any  moment  lay  it  aside — grant  that  most  men  have  sufficient  firn> 
ness  of  mind,  and  fixedness  of  purpose  to  resist,  and  sunder  at  their  pleasure,  the 
iron  chain  of  habit — yet,  if  only  one  individual  in  an  age  were  sacrificed  on  the 
altar  of  intemperance  by  the  medicinal  use  of  ardent  spirits,  would  not  this  of 
itself  be  a  sufficient  reason  for  proscribing  and  banishing  it  for  ever? 

But  it  will  be  asked,  how  is  this  risk  to  be  avoided  ?  If  ardent  spirits  are  neo 
essary  for  the  cure  of  disease,  and  the  preservation  of  health,  shall  we  not  use 
them  ?  In  reply  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  there  is  no  state  of  the 
system,  however  exhausted  or  enfeebled — no  species  of  malady,  however  obsti- 
nate or  unyielding — no  case  of  disease,  however  dangerous  or  appalling,  in  which 
ardent  spirit  is  indispensably  necessary,  and  in  which  a  substitute,  perfectly 
equal  to  all  the  exigencies  of  the  case,  cannot  easily  be  found. 

Professor  Chapman  of  Philadelphia,  in  his  able  work  on  the  materia  medica 
remarks : — 

'  It  is  the  sacred  duty  of  every  one  exercising  the  profession  of  medicine  to 
unite  with  the  moralist,  the  divine,  and  the  economist,  in  discouraging  the  con- 
sumption of  these  baneful  articles,  and  as  the  first  step  in  the  scheme  of  refor- 
mation to  discountenance  the  popular  notion  of  their  remedial  efficacy.' 

And  I  think  that  every  medical  man,  who  will  carefully  review  the  whole 
ground,  will  come  to  the  same  conclusion. 

That  stimulant  articles  are  desirable,  and  even  necessary  in  the  practice  of 
medicine,  no  one  can  doubt.  There  are  several  states  of  the  system  in  which 
this  class  of  remedial  agents  is  indispensable.  Whenever  the  system  has  been 
exhausted  by  long-continued  disease,  or  any  other  cause,  and  where  no  fever 
exists,  tonics  and  bitters,  of  various  kinds,  will  do  much  to  restore  the  lost  en- 
ergy of  the  stomach,  and  to  bring  back  the  wonted  vigor  of  the  constitution. 

Among  these  stimulants  and  tonics  ardent  spirits  have  long  held  a  high  rank, 
and  have  frequently  been  resorted  to,  especially  by  the  vulgar. 

It  is  admitted  that  there  are  a  few  extreme  cases  in  which  ardent  spirits  are 
temporarily  beneficial :  what  is  contended  for  is,  that  there  is  no  case  in  which 
they  are  indispensable,  and  in  which  an  adequate  substitute  cannot  readily  be 
found. 

1.  In  Dyspepsy. 

There  is  perhaps  scarcely  one  disease  in  the  treatment  of  which  the  patient 

more  frequently  commits  mistakes  than  in  this.     He  feels  languid  and  wretched 

his  food  is  badly  digested — flatulency  continually  harasses  him — an  uneasy, 


511] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. 1835. APPENDIX.  57 


indescribable  sensation  of  oppression  in  the  epigastric  region,  is  a  constant 
companion — and  to  relieve  these  disagreeable  feelings  he  has  been  taught  by  those 
around  him  to  resort  to  the  stimulus  of  bitters  and  ardent  spirits.  He  perhaps 
receives  temporary  relief,  and  he  is  encouraged  to  proceed — another  and  another, 
and  another  dose  is  taken,  but  the  relief  becomes  more  and  more  transient ;  and 
in  order  to  obtain  even  this  he  is  compelled  to  increase  his  libations.  He  will 
however  very  soon  discover  to  his  sorrow  that  his  disease,  instead  of  being 
cured,  is  continually  becoming  worse.  In  short,  he  has  mistaken  his  remedy — 
and  this  will  invariably  be  the  result  with  every  one  who  endeavors  to  break  up 
such  a  disease  by  such  means. 

Dyspepsy  requires  a  very  different  treatment.  Where  any  thing  of  a  stimu- 
lant or  tonic  character  is  required,  the  usual  bitters,  as  Peruvian  bark,  camomile 
flowers,  columba,  quassia,  gentian,  &c,  or  the  preparations  of  steel  will  be  am- 
ply sufficient. 

The  sulphate  of  quinine  is  a  most  excellent  article  in  cases  of  languor,  debility, 
and  loss  of  appetite,  and  might  be  employed  advantageously  much  more  fre- 
quently than  it  is.  There  is  no  bitter,  lam  inclined  to  think,  in  the  materia 
medica,  whose  effects  are  so  prompt  and  decided  as  this — and  which  gives  such 
immediate  and  complete  relief  in  those  cases  of  simple  debility  which  occur  so 
frequently  during  our  warm  summers — and  more  especially  among  men  of  sed- 
entary habits — and  females  of  delicate  constitution. 

There  cannot  be  the  least  doubt  that  great,  and  sometimes  essential  injury 
has  been  inflicted  on  the  unhappy  dyspeptic  by  recommending  alcohol  to 
strengthen  his  digestive  powers,  and  increase  his  appetite.  So  delicate  an  organ 
as  the  stomach  cannot  with  safety  be  loaded  with  so  powerful  a  stimulus,  and 
especially  when  in  a  state  of  subacute  inflammation,  as  is  frequently  the  case  in 
dyspepsy.  Independently  therefore  of  the  imminent  danger  of  the  patients'  be- 
coming addicted  to  habits  of  intemperance,  the  advice  too  frequently  given,  I 
am  afraid  even  by  physicians,  to  drink  brandy  and  water  cannot  be  too  strongly 
deprecated  on  account  of  its  immediate  effects  on  the  system  itself. 

2.  In  low  Typhoid  slates  of  the  System. 

Where  the  strength  has  been  exhausted,  and  a  low  typhoid  state  has  come  on, 
after  a  long  continued  fever,  it  is  a  very  general  impression  among  the  profes- 
sion that  a  stimulus  of  a  different  nature  from  the  ordinary  tonics  and  bitters 
is  required  to  quiet  the  irritable  and  frequent  pulse,  to  clear  the  black  and  coated 
tongue,  and  to  resuscitate  the  exhausted  energy  of  the  body.  In  this  peculiar 
state  most  medical  men  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  alcohol  very  freely  in 
the  form  of  wine  or  brandy.  But,  surely,  when  we  consider  the  great  number, 
and  vast  variety  of  stimulants  furnished  by  the  materia  medica,  we  can  hardly 
believe  that  amongst  all  these  it  would  not  be  possible  to  select  an  article  or  arti- 
cles which  would  be  proper  for  almost  any  form  of  this  disease,  and  every  idio- 
syncrasy of  constitution.  When  we  consider  the  great  and  varied  powers  of 
the  Peruvian  bark,  ammonia,  camphor,  cayenne  pepper,  &c.  &c,  can  we  doubt 
that  resort  need  never  be  had  to  ardent  spirits  where  these  can  be  obtained  ? 
But  although  perhaps  there  are  cases  where  wine  cannot  readily  be  dispensed 
with,  yet  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  there  never  was  an  instance 
where  there  was  the  least  necessity  for  using  ardent  spirits  in  any  form  or  shape 
whatever.  Indeed,  the  only,  or  the  principal  plea  for  the  employment  of  brandy 
or  rum  in  these  cases  is,  that  wine  sometimes  disagrees  with  the  stomach  by 
turning  acid.  It  is  rather  a  favorite  notion  with  some  practitioners  that  brandy 
is  less  apt  to  disagree  in  this  respect  than  wine,  but  I  must  say  that  I  have  never 
found  the  least  difficulty  where  the  wine  was  of  a  good  quality,  and  the  proper 
kind  had  been  selected.  Sometimes  one  kind  of  wine  will  suit  better  than  an- 
other, and  some  little  judgment  is  required  to  select  that  which  is  best  adapted 
to  the  peculiarities  of  the  constitution  and  the  disease.  Should  there  however 
be  a  case  in  which  wine  could  not  be  taken,  good  porter  or  ale  could  still  be  re- 
sorted to,  and  would  be  more  suitable  and  advantageous  than  ardent  spirits. 

I  have  no  hesitation  then  in  repeating  that  there  are  no  cases  of  typhoid  fever 
where  ardent  spirits  are  ever  desirable,  and  very  few  if  any  in  which  wine  is 
absolutely  indispensable 

8 


58  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [512 

3.  As  an  External  Application  in  Cases  of  Hemorrhage. 

It  would  be  absurd  to  attempt  a  labored  denial  of  the  importance  of  ardent 
spirits  in  this  particular  case,  as  probably  not  one  sober  medical  man  in  a 
hundred  would  ever  think  of  resorting  to  thein  for  any  such  purpose. 

4.  Alcohol  is  frequently  given,  in  some  form  or  other,  to  infants  to  remove  flatu- 

lency, relieve  pain,  make  them  sleep,  dy-c. 

This  idea  has  already  been  discussed  in  a  previous  part  of  our  work.  I  will 
only  add,  that  there  is  not  probably  a  single  imaginable  state  of  the  infant's  sys- 
tem in  which  other  articles  could  not  be  used  with  more  advantage  for  these 
purposes  than  ardent  spirits. 

5.  In  cases  of  sudden  emergency  in  which  the  vital  powers  seem  extinct,  and 
the  patient  is  in  immediate  danger  of  death — as  when  large  quantities  of 
cold  water  have  been  drunk. 

Where  accidents  of  this  kind  have  taken  place  nothing  is  more  common  than 
to  see  both  practitioner  and  the  standers  by  pouring  down  brandy  or  gin  into 
the  stomach  of  the  unhappy  victim  —  not  once  reflecting  that  in  all  probability 
he  has  already  half  a  pint  of  alcohol  in  his  system,  and  without  which  his 
alarming  situation  never  would  have  occurred.  Nothing  is  more  certain,  than 
that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  where  injury  has  been  suffered  from  drinking  cold 
water  in  warm  weather,  it  takes  place  in  persons  of  intemperate  habits,  the 
powers  of  whose  system  have  been  prostrated  by  previous  indulgence,  and 
which  have  not  sufficient  energy  to  bear  the  sudden  introduction  of  a  large 
quantity  of  cold  water.  The  drinking  of  cold  water  by  persons  whose  habits 
have  been  previously  good,  and  whose  health  is  perfect,  is  seldom,  if  ever,  at- 
tended by  fatal  consequences,  and  indeed  generally  by  nothing  more  than  slight 
and  transient  pain. 

Is  it  not  absurd  then  for  us  to  prescribe,  as  a  remedy,  an  additional  quantity 
df  the  very  article  which  has  caused  all  the  mischief.'  Although  no  doubt  stim- 
ulants are  the  proper  remedies  in  cases  of  this  kind,  yet  there  can  be  as  little 
doubt  that  there  are  other  articles  much  more  efficacious  and  suitable  than  ar- 
dent spirits  Ammonia,  cayenne  pepper,  camphor,  laudanum,  together  with  ex- 
ternal applications  of  mustard,  cantharides,  turpentine,  heat,  friction — all  can  be 
employed  to  much  greater  advantage  than  alcohol  in  any  form,  and  will  be  am« 
ply  sufficient  for  every  possible  emergency. 

6.  To  remedy  the  disagreeable  taste  and  the  supposed  injurious  qualities  of  bad  or 

impure  loater,  particularly  in  cities,  and  on  ship-board. 

Although  this  plea  for  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  cannot  be  sustained  by  a  single 
rational  argument,  yet  I  have  no  doubt  it  has  frequently  been  the  means  of  in- 
ducing intemperate  habits  It  is  a  very  common  practice  in  our  large  cities, 
and  perhaps  still  more  common  on  board  our  ships,  to  plead  this  excuse  in  justi- 
ficatiou  of  the  daily  and  habitual  use  of  alcoholic  liquors.  But  a  moment's  con- 
sideration would  be  sufficient  to  convince  any  reflecting  man  that  such  a  course 
is  only  making  the  evil  greater.  If  the  water  be  unwholesome,  the  mixture 
with  it  of  brandy,  which  is  itself  injurious,  cannot  render  it  otherwise  ;  and  if 
the  object  be  to  disguise  its  disagreeable  taste,  there  is  a  great  variety  of  other 
articles  which  could  be  employed  quite  as  effectually  for  this  purpose,  and  which 
are  free  from  every  objection,  either  on  the  score  of  morals  or  of  health. 

7.  External  applications. 

There  are  so  many  other  things  (as  tincture  of  cantharides,  spirits  of  turpen 
tine,  mustard,  &c.  &,c.)  which  can  be  used  in  this  case,  that  not  a  word  need 
be  wasted  on  the  subject. 


513] 


EIGHTH    REPORT. — 1835. — APPENDIX.  59 


8.  The  vulgar  opinion,  or  rather  ichat  icas  the  vulgar  opinion  a  few  years  since,  thai 
the  laboring  man  requires  the  stimulation  of  ardent  spirits  to  enable  him  to  per- 
form his  arduous  duties,  and  to  defend  him  against  the  vicissitudes  of  our  chantry 
able  climate,  is  wholly  unfounded. 

It  would  be  easy  to  prove  this  from  a  philosophical  consideration  of  this  sub- 
ject, but  a  still  more  infallible  guide  (experience)  puts  it  beyond  ail  controversy. 
Since  the  formation  of  temperance  societies  it  has  been  found  by  the  experience 
of  thousands,  ascertained  in  every  possible  way  too,  that  those  laboring  men  who 
abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirits,  can  perform  more  labor,  and  are 
in  less  danger  from  the  vicissitudes  of  our  climate  than  those  who  use  them. — 
Within  the  last  ten  years,  thousands  of  farms  have  been  cultivated,  hundreds  of 
ships  have  been  navigated,  and  every  variety  of  manufacture  carried  on  without 
a  drop  of  ardent  spirits — and  the  unanimous  and  decided  testimony  of  the  indi- 
viduals concerned  has  been,  not  only  that  money  has  been  saved,  and  morals 
promoted,  but  that  lives  have  been  preserved,  and  health  benefited  by  this  ab- 
stemious course. 

On  a  dispassionate  review  of  this  whole  subject  then,  I  think  it  will  be  ad- 
mitted by  every  candid  and  reflecting  medical  man,  that  the  use  of  ardent  spirits 
in  the  practice  of  medicine  is  never  indispensable,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  even 
useful ;  and  that  in  this  latter  case  there  is  a  great  variety  of  remedies  which 
are  amply  sufficient  as  substitutes.  If  this  be  the  case,  what  is  the  duty  of  e"v>- 
ery  physician  in  relation  to  this  article,  which  has  spread  such  misery,  desola- 
tion, and  ruin  throughout  this  country  and  the  world  ?  Shall  not  physicians  who 
have  always  been  pre-eminent  in  the  labors  of  love  and  the  exertions  of  philan- 
thropy— shall  not  they  do  something  for  the  promotion  of  the  temperance  cause 
— that  greatest  and  best  of  the  benevolent  enterprises  of  this  benevolent  age  ? 

And  in  what  way  can  this  be  done  so  effectually  as  by  discouraging  the  med- 
ical use  of  ardent  spirits  ?  No  one  can  doubt  that  such  use  has  made  many  a 
drunkard,  and  filled  many  a  drunkard's  grave  :  and  shall  we  not  then  relinquish 
its  employment,  and  resort  to  other  articles  equally  efficacious,  and  at  the  same 
time  perfectly  safe  ?  The  apathy  which  has  so  long  been  fell  by  the  medical 
profession  in  relation  to  this  important  subject — thanks  to  the  Temperance  Soci- 
eties and  the  reforming  spirit  of  the  age — is  beginning  to  disappear,  and  more 
enlarged  views  of  professional  duty  and  professional  responsibility  are  beginning 
to  be  felt. 

Already  has  the  seal  of  reprobation  been  put  on  the  medicinal  use  of  ardent 
spirits  by  numbers  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  medical  faculty  ;  and  may  we  not 
hope  that  this  spirit  will  spread  yet  more  widely  and  extensively  until  every 
physician  shall  be  brought  under  its  influence,  and  shall  unite  with  the  patriot 
and  the  Christian  in  the  expulsion  from  its  last  strong  hold  of  this  most  destruc- 
tive of  human  vices,  and  direst  of  human  foes  ?" 


"While  we  are  convinced  that  there  is  no  case  in  which  ardent  spirit  is 
indispensable,  and  for  which  there  is  not  an  adequate  substitute,  we  are  equally 
assured,  that,  so  long  as  there  is  an  exception  allowed,  and  men  are  permitted 
to  use  it  as  a  medicine,  so  long  we  shall  have  invalids  and  drinkers  among  us. 
Only  let  our  profession  take  a  decided  stand  upon  this  point,  and  intemperance 
will  soon  vanish  from  our  country."  (THOMAS  SEWALL,  M.  D. 

Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Columbian  College,  Washington,  D.  C.) 

"  The  reservation  of  the  use  of  alcohol  for  cases  of  sickness  appears  to  be  of 
little  importance  in  a  medical  way,  and  if  it  leads  to  practical  abuses  such  a 
reservation  should  not  be  made."  (JOHN  C.  WARREN,  M.  D. 

Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  Harvard  University,  Boston.) 


NINTH    REPORT 


AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE     SOCIETY. 


In  the  previous  Reports  of  the  American  Temperance  Society, 
the  following  truths  are  proved ;  and  in  various  ways,  by  a  great 
variety  of  facts  and  reasonings  illustrated  and  enforced,  viz. 

1.  Alcohol,  the  intoxicating  ingredient  in  spirituous  liquor,  is 
not  the  product  of  creation,  or  of  any  living  process  in  nature. 

2.  It  is  the  fruit  of  vinous  fermentation  ;  and  is  generated  by 
a  process,  which  takes  place  in  certain  vegetable  substances  after 
they  are  dead. 

3.  It  is  not,  as  a  beverage,  needful  or  useful  to  men,  in  order 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  highest  health,  the  greatest  ability  for 
bodily  or  mental  effort,  and  the  longest  continuance  of  life. 

4.  It  is,  to  the  human  constitution,  a  poison;  the  use  of 
which,  as  a  beverage,  is  always  hurtful. 

5.  It  produces  many,  and  aggravates  most  of  the  diseases  to 
which  the  human  frame  is  liable. 

6.  It  tends  to  render  diseases  hereditary,  and  thus  to  deteri- 
orate the  human  race. 

7.  It  weakens  the  understanding,  stupifies  the  conscience, 
and  hardens  the  heart. 

8.  It  often  causes  insanity,  and  produces  a  predisposition  to 
that  disease  in  the  offspring  of  those  who  use  it. 

9.  It  occasions  the  loss  of  a  great  amount  of  property. 

10.  It  lessens,  and  often  destroys,  social  enjoyment ;  and 
causes  a  great  increase  of  domestic  wretchedness. 

11.  It  weakens  the  power  of  motives  to  do  right,  and  in- 
creases the  power  of  motives  to  do  wrong. 

12.  It  causes  most  of  the  pauperism,  and  of  the  crimes,  in 
the  community. 

13.  It  powerfully  counteracts  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel ;  and 
of  all  means  for  the  intellectual  elevation,  the  moral  purity,  the 
personal  benefit,  and  the  public  usefulness  of  men. 

14.  It  corrupts  the  public  morals,  and  debases  the  public 
mind. 

15.  It  endangers  the  purity  and  permanence  of  free  insti- 
tutions. 


2  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [516 

16.  It  shortens  human  life. 

17.  It  tends  powerfully  to  lead  men  to  dishonor  God ;  and 
forever  to  destroy  their  own  souls. 

18.  Abstinence  from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  intoxicating 
liquor,  is  safe,  and  salutary. 

19.  This  is  proved  by  the  experience  of  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands, of  various  ages,  conditions,  and  employments;  who  have 
adopted  the  course  of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  it. 

20.  Should  all  adopt,  and  perse veringly  pursue,  a  similar 
course,  drunkenness  and  its  evils  would  universally  cease. 

21.  The  gospel  and  all  means  for  the  promotion  of  the  tem- 
poral and  eternal  good  of  men,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  would 
be  crowned  with  greatly  augmented  success. 

22.  For  men  to  continue  to  use  it,  as  a  beverage,  to  make  it 
or  furnish  it  to  be  so  used  by  others,  is  morally  wrong;  and 
ought,  universally,  to  be  discontinued. 

23.  Especially  is  it  wrong,  for  professed  Christians  thus  to 
use,  make,  or  furnish  it ;  and  more  especially  still,  for  officers  of 
churches,  and  ministers  of  the  gospel — as  the  better  the  charac- 
ter, and  the  greater  the  influence  of  those  who  pursue  a  wrong 
practice,  the  more  extensively  it  will  be  imitated,  the  longer  it 
will  be  continued,  and  the  greater  the  mischief  which  it  will 
be  likely  to  do. 

Of  course  it  is  especially  important  that  all  who  belong  to 
either  of  these  classes,  and  all  who  are,  on  any  account,  respecta- 
ble or  influential  in  society,  should,  without  delay,  renounce  this 
practice,  themselves,  and  labor,  in  all  suitable  ways,  to  induce  all 
others  to  do  the  same. 

But  such  is  the  blinding  and  hardening  power  of  wrong  prac- 
tice, upon  all  who  continue  in  it,  that  it  is  difficult  in  many  cases 
to  convince  professors  of  religion,  and  even  officers  of  churches 
and  ministers  of  the  gospel,  while  in  this  practice,  and  wishing 
to  continue  it,  that  it  is  wrong  ;  or  to  persuade  them  to  renounce 
it.  Yet,  if  suitable  means  are  used,  in  a  suitable  manner,  and 
are  attended,  as  we  have  reason  to  expect  that  they  will  be,  by 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  this  is  possible.  And  facts 
show  that  this  is  not  only  possible,  but  highly  probable.  The 
great  thing  which  is  wanted,  so  far  as  means  are  concerned,  is, 
the  universal  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of  the  facts,  and  espe- 
cially that  knowledge  which  results  from  experience. 

In  every  case,  so  far  as  known  to  the  Committee,  in  which  a 
fair  experiment  has  been  made,  the  result  has  been  an  entire  and 
strong  conviction,  not  only  of  the  safety,  but  of  the  great  utility 
of  abstinence  from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating 
liquor.  And  these  cases  are  so  numerous,  of  such  great  variety, 
and  so  perfectly  uniform  and  decisive,  that  it  would  seem  that 


517]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  3 

they  must,  if  known,  produce  universal  conviction.  Yet,  through 
want  of  the  means  of  information,  or  of  due  attention  to  them, 
because  men  have  a  real  or  supposed  monied  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject, or  are,  at  times,  more  or  less  under  the  power  of  intoxicating 
liquor,  many  still  continue  to  furnish  it,  or  to  use  it.  And  are  so 
deluded  by  its  effects,  as  to  imagine  that  it  does  them  good. 
By  coming  under  the  power  of  what  God  hath  pronounced  to  be 
"a  mocker,"  they  are  so  mocked  as  to  "call  evil  good,  and  good 
evil ;  to  put  darkness  for  light,  and  light  for  darkness ;  call  bitter 
things  sweet,  and  sweet  things  bitter."  This  is  the  case  with 
many,  otherwise  respectable  men  ;  with  professors  of  the  Christian 
religion ;  and,  we  regret  to  say,  with  some  officers  of  Christian 
churches,  and,  in  some  countries,  even  with  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  They  go  sometimes  from  the  pulpit,  to  the  intoxicating 
bowl ;  and  even  "put  the  bottle  to  their  neighbors'  mouths ;" 
and  thus  give  the  sanction  of  their  influence  and  example  to  a 
practice,  which,  so  long  as  it  is  continued,  will  tend  to  perpetuate 
intemperance,  and  spread  its  horrors  over  all  future  genera- 
tions. 

To  convince  such  persons,  and  all  who  may  be  under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  delusion,  of  their  error,  and  lead  them  to  forsake 
it,  the  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance  Society  have 
published  the  principles,  reasonings  and  facts,  contained  in  the 
foregoing  volume.*  And  that  to  these  might  be  added  the  light 
and  influence  of  experience  and  example,  they  sent  to  a  number 
of  distinguished  individuals,  the  following  circular,  viz. — 

"  Dear  Sir, — A  number  of  distinguished  literary  men,  and 
others,  noted  for  great  and  successful  efforts,  have  made  known 
to  the  Committee  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  that 
they  have  received  special  benefit,  by  entire  abstinence  from  the 
use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating  liquor.  Wherever  the  ex- 
periment has  been  fairly  made,  the  result,  among  all  classes  of 
persons,  so  far  as  is  known  to  the  Committee,  has  been  uniformly 
and  highly  salutary.  And  it  is  thought,  that,  should  the  re- 
sults of  the  experience  of  a  few  hundred  distinguished  men  in 
the  various  departments  of  life,  be  collected,  and,  in  a  perma- 
nent form,  be  put  into  the  hand  of  each  young  man,  especially 
in  all  seminaries  of  learning  throughout  the  United  States,  it 
would  be  of  unspeakable  service  to  them,  and  to  the  world. 
Many  of  them  might  be  saved  by  it,  from  a  premature  grave, 
and  the  labors  of  others  be  rendered  much  more  extensively  and 
highly  useful. 

*  Permanent  Temperance  Documents ;  a  volume  of  420  pages,  containing 
the  great  principles  involved  in  the  temperance  reformation,  and  the  reason* 
togs  and  facts,  by  which  those  principles  are  illustrated  and  enforced. 


4  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    S0CIETT.  [518 

The  Committee  have  therefore  determined  to  address  a  num- 
ber of  gentlemen  who  are  known,  or  are  supposed,  to  have  ab- 
stained from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and 
ascertain  from  them  the  results  of  their  experience  on  this  subject. 
And  if  you,  Sir,  will  be  so  kind  as  to  give  them,  as  soon  as  con- 
venient, the  results  of  your  experience  and  observation  with  re- 
gard to  it,  that  they  may  be  embodied  with  the  results  of  the  ex- 
perience and  observation  of  others,  and  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
youth  of  our  country,  and  thus  extend  their  salutary  influence  to 
all  future  ages,  you  will  greatly  oblige  the  Committee,  and,  they 
believe,  perform  an  important  service  to  mankind. 

Among  other  topics  on  which  the  Committee  wish  particularly 
for  information,  are  the  following:  viz. 

1.  What,  in  your  case,  has  been  the  effect  of  abstinence 
from  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  on  health  ? 

2.  What  has  been  the  effect  on  the  capability  of  making 
great  and  continued  efforts  of  body  and  mind  ? 

3.  What  has  been  the  effect  on  the  feelings,  as  to  cheerful- 
ness, uniformity,  he.  ?  with  any  other  particulars  which  may 
occur  to  you  as  important  to  be  known  by  the  human  family. 

Hoping  to  hear  from  you  as  soon  as  may  be  convenient,  I  am, 
with  great  respect,  yours,  &c. 

JUSTIN  EDWARDS, 

Cor.  Sec.  Am.  Temp.  Soc. 

P.  S.  If  other  persons  of  your  acquaintance  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  abstaining  from  the  use  of  the  above  mentioned 
liquor,  you  will  confer  a  favor  by  procuring  the  results  of  their 
experience  and  observation,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  Com- 
mittee. 

In  answer  to  the  above,  numerous  communications  have  been 
received,  of  which  the  following  extracts  are  specimens. 

1.  From  the  Honorable  Judge  Brewster,  of  Riga,  Monroe 
County,  New  York. 

"  I  have  lived  for  nearly  thirty  years  in  this  place — have  con- 
verted a  large  quantity  of  wilderness  into  a  fruitful  field — have 
employed  a  large  number  of  men,  and  have,  according  to  the 
custom  of  the  country,  consumed  a  large  amount  of  ardent 
spirit — and  observed  much  of  the  deleterious  effects  resulting 
from  it  to  my  men.  About  twelve  years  ago,  I  banished  the  ar- 
ticle from  my  business  and  premises,  and  totally  refrained  from 
the  use  of  it  myself — and  although  I  used  it  (what  was  then 
thought)  temperately,  I  learned  by  experience,  (after  I  had  left 
off  its  use)  that  it  had  had  a  most  deleterious  effect  on  me,  as  well 
as  on  my  men.     I  found  my  men  would  sustain  cold  and  heat, 


519]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  5 

storm  and  fatigue,  much  better  without  this  stimulus,  than  with 
it.  We  felicitated  ourselves  upon  this  discovery.  But  about 
two  years  ago,  I  commenced  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicat- 
ing drinks ;  and  1  am  constrained  to  believe,  that  I  have  expe- 
rienced a  much  more  sensible  improvement  in  my  bodily  and 
mental  powers  than  when  the  reform  was  but  half  accomplished. 
I  am  now  nearly  sixty -two  years  old  ;  and  find,  so  far  as  I  am  capa- 
ble of  forming  a  judgment,  that  my  bodily  and  mental  powers  are 
better  than  they  were  twelve  years  ago — and  that  far  the  greater 
share  of  improvement  has  been  experienced  since  I  left  off  the 
moderate  use  of  fermented  drinks.  My  health  is  next  to  perfect 
— which  used  to  experience  frequent  interruptions.  My  mind 
is  clear  and  perceptive,  without  much  fluctuation — my  tempera- 
ment, which  is  naturally  ardent,  has  become  calm  and  even. 
And  1  hope  eternally  to  bless  God  that  he  gave  me  wisdom  and 
grace  to  adopt  total  abstinence  from  all  fermented  liquors.  And 
here  allow  me,  dear  sir,  to  say,  that,  from  experience  and  obser- 
vation, I  believe  that  the  use  of  fermented  drinks  is  one  of  the 
most  potent  agents  in  paralyzing  the  life  of  active  piety,  and  holy 
obedience,  in  Christians.  And  should  this  total  abstinence  prin- 
ciple obtain  throughout  the  evangelical  church,  I  believe  her 
march  would  be  rapid  in  her  way  to  her  millennial  glory.  Hence 
let  every  Christian  and  philanthropist  do  all  they  can  to  advance 
this  man-restoring  object." 

2.     From  Colonel  Guy  Bigelow,  of  Colchester,  Conn. 

"  In  reply  to  your  communication  of  the  17th  of  November,  I 
would  stale  that,  till  the  age  of  twenty-nine  years,  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  using  intoxicating  liquor  of  almost  every  kind.  For  ten 
years  previous  to  that  time,  I  was  employed  during  the  winter  in 
school  teaching,  and  summer  in  laboring  on  a  farm,  with  from 
four  to  eight  hands ;  and,  at  times,  in  distilling  cider,  peaches,  he. 
I  had  the  art  of  rectifying  and  converting  them  into  old  spirits, 
French  brandy,  Holland  gin,  he.  I  made  spice  and  lemon 
brandy,  and  several  kinds  of  cordials,  for  family  use,  and  to  treai 
friends  ;  and  was  in  the  daily  habit  of  drinking  them.  I  supposed 
it  necessary,  especially  in  haying  and  harvest  time,  to  enable  me 
to  perform  my  part,  which  was  equal  to  that  of  any  one  with 
whom  I  labored.  Although  for  several  winters  during  that  time, 
T  abstained  wholly  from  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  for  three  or  four 
months  together.  In  1814,  I  became  satisfied  that  the  use  of  it 
was  an  injury,  and  came  to  the  determination  to  abstain  from  it 
entirely.  I  have  drunk  none  since,  to  my  knowledge,  except 
twice,  by  mistake  ;  both  times  it  caused  a  violent  head-ache  for 
several  hours.  The  effect  of  abstinence  has  been,  less  fatigue 
from  labor,  less  effect  from  heat,  especially  in  the  night ;  of  course 
1* 


6  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [520 

I  rested  better,  and  was  able  to  perform  more  labor,  but  was  in 
the  habit  of  taking  a  glass  of  wine,  occasionally. 

"  In  1824,  I  became  satisfied  that  it  was  wrong  for  me  to  drink 
wine.  Since  that  time  I  have  abstained  from  it,  except  at  the 
communion  table.  I  refused  to  take  a  glass  even  at  my  own 
wedding,  which  took  place  in  1827.  At  the  age  of  fifty,  in 
August  last,  I  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  it  was  expedient  to 
abstain  from  the  use  of  cider.  1  had  apples  sufficient  for  twenty -five 
or  thirty  barrels  ;  but  I  let  the  cattle  and  hogs  take  them,  except 
enough  for  two  barrels,  which  was  boiled  down  for  apple-sauce. 
Since  1824,  1  have  continued  to  labor  summer  and  winter,  and 
am  satisfied  that,  in  my  case,  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating 
drink,  is  beneficial  to  health.  I  am  less  affected  by  heat  and 
cold — have  more  uniformity  of  feeling,  and  more  cheerfulness  o 
mind." 

3.  From  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Hammond,  a  respectable  agricul- 
turalist, of  the  above  mentioned  place. 

"  For  more  than  four  years  past,  I  have  abstained  wholly  from 
the  use  (as  a  beverage)  of  intoxicating  drink  of  every  name — and 
can  most  cordially  say,  that,  at  no  former  period,  have  I  had  such 
perfect  health,  been  able  to  perform  the  same  amount  of  labor 
with  so  little  fatigue ;  and  as  a  natural  consequence,  I  have  had 
more  cheerfulness,  contentment,  and  happiness." 

4.  From  Samuel  H.  Fox,  Esq.,  a  teacher  of  youth  in  the 
same  place. 

"  When  in  the  occasional  habit  of  using  intoxicating  liquors,  I 
was  subject  much  to  the  head-ache,  want  of  regular  appetite,  and 
of  course  a  general  disorganization  of  the  digestive  organs.  I 
have  abstained  from  ardent  spirit  about  eight  years — and  from 
fermented  liquors,  of  all  kinds,  about  three.  And  the  conse- 
quences are,  a  relief  from  the  above  difficulties  ;  and  I  now  enjoy 
confirmed  and  good  health.  I  am  enabled  to  perform  much  more 
labor  with  less  fatigue,  than  when  intoxicating  liquors  were  used 
as  an  auxiliary.  1  have  a  much  better  state  of  feeling,  am  less 
liable  to  irritation,  and  have  more  cheerfulness  of  mind." 

5.  From  the  Honorable  Judge  Loomis,  of  Montpelier, 
Vermont. 

"  Your  letter  of  inquiry,  of  November  last,  was  received.  I 
cheerfully  answer,  that  from  my  youth  until  over  forty-five  years 
of  age,  I  was  in  the  habit  of  drinking  intoxicating  liquor. 
Through  the  mercy  of  God,  I  was  preserved  in  the  class  called 
'  moderate  drinkers,'  and  supposed,  at  times  at  least,  that  it  was 
beneficial  to  me. 


521]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  7 

While  in  the  use  of  it,  I  was  frequently  troubled  with  head- 
ache, especially  in  the  morning. 

For  eight  or  ten  years  past,  I  have  wholly  abstained  from  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors ;  I  find  dispensing  with  the  use  of  them 
has  been  decidedly  beneficial ;  and  that  I  was  entirely  wrong  in 
supposing  they  did  me  any  good. 

The  benefits  most  perceptible  to  myself,  are,  almost  entire  re- 
lief from^head-ache  ;  better  rest ;  more  refreshing  sleep  ;  greater 
peace  and  tranquility  of  mind  ;  more  distinctness  and  satisfaction 
in  reflection  and  meditation. 

In  addition,  I  have  a  consciousness  of  having  seen,  and 
abandoned,  a  very  dangerous  and  sinful  practice." 

6.  From  the  Rev.  Henry  White,  pastor  of  Allen  street 
Church,  New  York. 

"  In  answer  to  the  inquiries  of  your  circular,  I  can  say  that  I 
have  received  much  advantage  every  way  by  a  perfect  adher- 
ance  to  the  principle  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating 
liquor.  This  I  have  done  for  several  years  past — and  I  have  no 
doubt  but  that  in  my  dispeptic  condition,  which  has  been  of  long 
standing,  the  practice  is  indispensable  to  a  moderate  degree  of 
health  ;  to  any  important  and  protracted  mental  efforts  ;  and  to 
almost  the  lowest  measure  of  cheerfulness  and  uniformity  of  feel- 
ing. From  the  experience  that  I  had,  before  rigidly  adopting 
the  principle  of  total  abstinence,  from  the  very  rare  use  of  wine 
and  beer,  1  am  convinced  they  were  a  bane  to  me.  I  do  not 
remember  ever  having  used  either,  without  suffering  somewhat  in 
bodily  health,  and  I  cannot  apply  my  mind  profitably,  after  taking 
even  a  very  small  quantity.  It  is  to  be  presumed  that  in  a  per- 
son of  feeble  digestive  powers  and  of  nervous  debility,  the  effects 
of  using  a  small  quantity  of  intoxicating  liquor  are  much  greater 
and  more  deleterious  than  in  a  healthy  constitution.  But  from 
extreme  cases  the  tendencies  of  things  may  perhaps  best  be  dis- 
covered." 

7.  From  Joseph  Speed,  M.  D.,  of  Caroline,  Tompkins 
County,  New  York. 

"I  am  a  physician,  and  have  been  no  inattentive  observer  of 
the  effects  of  intoxicating,  and  other  unnatural  substances,  on  the 
human  system,  in  producing  disease  and  death. 

Where  mal-formation  does  not  exist,  health  is  the  natural  state 
of  man ;  and  disease  is  unnatural,  and  brought  on  us,  usually, 
by  our  own  imprudences. 

The  usual  imprudences  are  improper  food  and  drink,  and  a 
deficiency  of  exercise. 


8  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [522 

There  is  nothing  in  the  formation  of  man,  there  is  nothing  in 
his  experience,  that  shows  that  nature  designed  he  should  use,  in 
health,  any  stimulating  substance  of  any  description,  that  does 
not  possess  nourishment.  On  the  contrary,  every  thing  of  the 
kind  is  injurious  to  health. 

The  only  proper  drink  for  man,  in  health,  is  water.  No  ad- 
dition to  it  can  make  it  more  healthy  ;  no  stimulating  materials 
can  be  added  to  it,  without  an  injury  to  the  health. 

I  am  now  far  advanced  in  my  sixty-third  year.  In  early  life 
I  lived  as  many  thoughtless  young  men  do,  to  eat,  drink,  and  be 
merry.  Few  restraints  were  imposed  on  my  appetite  by  myself, 
or  by  those  who  had  the  care  of  me,  until  I  attended  a  course  of 
medical  lectures,  delivered  by  Doctor  Rush,  in  1794.  This 
great  and  good  man's  memory  must  be  dear  to  every  one  who 
lias  attended  his  lectures.  The  earnestness  and  solemnity  with 
which  he  warned  us  against  the  evils  of  spirit,  I  can  never  forget ; 
and  from  that  time,  I  resolved  to  die  a  sober  man.  It  is  remark- 
able, Sir,  how  little  was  said  against  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks 
in  those  days.  I  do  not  recollect  that  either  of  the  other  Pro- 
fessors in  the  College,  said  a  word  on  the  subject ;  and  so  far  as  I 
can  remember,  it  was  rare  for  a  parent  to  admonish  his  child 
against  this  deadly  evil — nay,  he  often  sweetened  it,  to  make  it 
more  palatable  to  his  taste. 

Having  determined  for  myself,  to  die  a  sober  man,  I  used  in- 
toxicating drinks  of  every  kind  moderately,  as  it  was  called ;  and 
in  consequence  of  it,  I  probably  had  sickness  more  moderately, 
than  I  otherwise  should  have  had.  Knowing,  from  long  obser- 
vation, the  dreadful  evils  of  intemperance,  when  our  temperance 
reformation  began,  I  early  and  joyfully  joined  a  temperance  so- 
ciety, and  abstained  entirely  from  the  use  of  distilled  spirits.  It 
was  not  long  before  I  was  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  adopt- 
ing the  same  course  with  wine,  and  beer,  cider,  and  all  ferment- 
ed drinks.  It  was  pleasing  to  feel,  how,  step  by  step,  I  improv- 
ed in  health,  as  I  made  each  successive  sacrifice.  Encouraged 
by  these  beginnings,  and  knowing  that  there  were  other  things 
injurious  to  health,  which  I  was  practising,  I  determined  to  take 
a  new  start  in  the  path  of  reformation,  and  successively  gave  up 
the  use  of  strong  high-seasoned  food  of  every  description — my 
tobacco,  yes,  my  tobacco,  the  idol  of  my  life,  which  I  had  used 
for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  without  which  life  seemed  a  burden  : 
yes ;  that  dear,  soothing  comforter  of  my  life — that  vile,  filthy, 
health-destroying  weed,  had  to  go;  and,  not  very  long  after, 
my  tea,  and  my  coffee.  Yes,  my  much  loved  coffee,  had  to 
go,  too ;  but  much  as  I  loved  it,  our  separation  produced  a  pang, 
but  trifling  compared  to  the  loss  of  my  dear,  abominable,  filthy 
tobacco. 


523]  NINTH   REPORT. — 1836.  9 

I  know,  my  clear  Sir,  that  some  will  say,  -  You  poor,  deluded 
fanatic;  you  have  deprived  yourself  of  all  the  comforts  of  life, 
and  what  have  you  worth  living  for?'  I  have  health,  such  health 
as  men  never  enjoy  who  do  not  lead  a  uniformly  temperate  life. 
For  years  I  have  scarcely  known  what  an  ache  or  a  pain  is  ; 
and  for  years  1  have  not  had  a  cold,  worth  calling  a  cold. 
My  appetite  is  always  good.  1  have  a  great  pleasure  in  eating 
whatever  is  suitable  for  man  to  eat,  and  I  have  lost  all  desire 
for  any  thing,  but  the  plain  nourishing  food  on  which  I  live. 
I  feel  as  if  I  had  gone  back  many  years  of  my  life,  and  have 
the  ability  and  disposition  to  perform  much  more  labor  than  I 
had  seven  years  ago.  Here  is  what  I  have,  that  is  worth  living 
for;  and  I  will  ask  those  inquirers,  in  turn,  what  do  they  enjoy 
that  is  more  worth  living  for  ?  Do  they  eat  the  luxuries,  and  fat 
things  of  the  earth  ;  and  drink  the  fruit  of  the  vine  in  its  fer- 
mented and  joy-inspiring  state?  1  use  my  plain  food,  and  plain 
water,  with  as  much  pleasure  and  gratification  as  they  ;  for  I  have 
tried  both,  and  speak  from  experience,  and  know  that  their  grat- 
ifications are  often  followed  by  a  bitter  pang,  and  that  mine  are 
not.  Indeed,  so  far  am  I  from  suffering  from  my  mode  of  living, 
that  it  has  relieved  me  entirely  from  the  common  sufferings  of  life, 
to  which  improper  living  exposes  us.  I  used  to  suffer  much  from 
head-ache,  sick  stomach,  want  of  appetite,  irregularity  of  the 
bowels,  restless  nights,  rheumatic  pain,  melancholy  feelings,  and 
a  most  distressing  affection  of  the  heart — a  disease  of  which 
organ  has  become  one  of  the  most  powerful,  and  alarming  dis- 
eases of  our  land  ;  and  brought  on,  perhaps,  nine  times  out  of 
ten,  by  a  deficiency  of  exercise,  and  the  use  of  stimulating  food 
and  stimulating  drink.  Of  all  these  1  have  got  cured,  by  aban- 
doning stimulants  and  improper  food. 

You  ask  me,  Sir,  respecting  the  experience  of  others  on  this 
subject.  To  tell  you  all  the  good  effects  I  have  known,  would 
need  a  volume,  and  I  should  not  know  where  to  begin.  1  will, 
however,  state  one  case.  My  neighbor,  for  whom  I  had  often 
prescribed  for  a  head-ache,  which  had  seriously  injured  his  health, 
and  which  he  had  had,  with  only  one  exception,  once  a  month, 
for  more  than  forty  years,  applied  to  me,  two  or  three  years  ago, 
to  try  again  and  do  something  for  him  ;  for  he  suffered  excessive- 
ly ;  and  his  looks  showed  it.  In  fact  his  health  was  seriously  de- 
clining. His  attacks  lasted  him  a  day  or  two,  and  he  always  had 
to  sit  up  one  whole  night,  in  his  chair — so  severe  was  the  pain, 
at  every  attack. 

I  knew  he  was  fond  of  rich  food,  loved  coffee  dearly,  and  his 
tobacco  still  more,  and  used  them  very  freely.  I  told  him,  that 
I  had  trifled  with  him  long  enough,  I  would  give  him  no  more 
medicine,  he   must  cure  himself,  and  that  he  must  abandon  his 


10  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [524 

coffee,  his  tobacco,  and  all  high  seasoned  food,  and  live  upon 
milk  and  light  vegetable  diet,  and  eat  meat  sparingly,  but  once  a 
day.  He  tried  to  reason  me  out  of  it,  as  he  said  he  had  the 
head-ache  before  he  used  tobacco,  or  coffee.  I  told  him,  it  mat- 
tered not  ;  his  situation  was  serious,  and  he  must  follow  my  ad- 
vice. He  did  so  ;  left  off  all,  and  for  six  months  had  but  one  at- 
tack of  head-ache,  and  that  produced  by  a  day's  ride  on  a 
hard  trotting  horse,  to  which  he  had  not  been  used.  In  fact  he 
became  a  new  man.  He  has  since  returned  slightly  to  his  old 
living,  and  tells  me  he  has  slight  returns  of  head-ache. 

Here,  Sir,  is  one  case,  among  thousands,  of  the  injurious  ef- 
fects of  stimulants,  and  here  is  the  simple  cure.  It  matters  not 
whether  the  stimulants  be,  distilled  spirit,  or  fermented  liquors  ; 
they  all,  without  exception,  endanger  the  health  of  man,  produce 
diseases  of  the  most  fatal  kind,  and  destroy  more  lives  than 
sword,  pestilence,  and  famine.  And,  now,  Oh  my  country,  arise 
in  your  might,  and  cast  away  those  destructive  things  from  your 
borders.  Ministers  of  the  holy  gospel,  cease  not,  day  nor  night, 
to  bear  your  testimony  against  them.  You  know  not  what  a 
powerful  influence  some  of  you  exert  in  favor  of  alcohol:  banish 
it.  I  beseech  you,  from  all  your  drinks.  You  acknowledge  that 
temperance  societies  prepare  the  minds  of  men  for  our  holy  re- 
ligion. Let  me  implore  you  to  throw  no  stumbling  block  in 
their  way.  Young  men  of  my  country,  I  am  old,  and  you  are 
young.  To  you  are  committed  the  destinies  of  our  country. 
As  you  value  its  freedom  and  happiness,  fly  to  its  rescue. 
We  have  brought  the  aik  of  temperance  in  sight  of  the  prom- 
ised land,  and  we  will  rely  on  your  patriotism,  your  virtue,  and 
heroism,  to  conduct  it  thither." 

8.  From  Gerrit  Smith,  Esq.,  of  Peterboro',  New  Yoik. 

"  I  thank  you  for  addressing  to  me  a  copy  of  your  circular — 
but,  as  my  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  even  before  the  temperance 
reformation  began,  was  very  limited,  my  experience  furnishes 
little  of  the  information  you  desire.  I  have,  with  very  slight 
interruptions,  enjoyed  good  health  through  life — and,  in  respect 
to  '  cheerfulness'  and  '  uniformity,'  few  men  can  say  more  for 
their  feelings  than  I  can  for  mine.  My  only  drink  for  the  last 
three  years  has  been  cold  water  ;  with  the  rare  exception  of  a 
tumbler  of  milk.  Wine  was  banished  from  my  house,  eight 
years  ago." 

9.  From  George  P.  Frost,  Esq  ,  of  Ithaca,  New  York. 

"  In  answer  to  the  inquiries  made  in  your  circular,  which  I 
have  just  received  :  1st.  '  What,  in  your  case,  has  been  the  effect 
of  abstinence  from  the  use  of  intoxicatiDg  liquor,  on  health?' 


525]  NINTH   REPORT. 1836.  11 

I  answer;  until  six  years  ago  last  January,  I  indulged  occasion- 
ally in  the  use  of  cider  and  pearlashes,  and  beer  and  wine,  the 
first  of  which  in  particular  was  frequently  recommended  and 
taken  by  me  to  cure  the  jaundice  and  sick  head-ache,  to  which  1 
was  very  subject — the  second  was  recommended,  and  also  occa- 
sionally taken,  as  a  very  healthy  drink  calculated  to  remove  a 
watery  and  sour  stomach,  with  which  I  was  much  afflicted  ;  often 
for  years  throwing  off  from  my  stomach  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties whatever  of  food  or  drink  was  taken  therein  ;  and  was  told 
by  my  physician  that  I  was  to  be  very  short  lived,  unless  I  was 
careful  to  eat  and  drink  such  things  only  as  would  remain  on  my 
stomach.  But  I  sought  such  articles  of  food  and  drink  in 
vain — the  third  and  last  was  recommended  and  taken  to 
strengthen  and  cheer  my  drowsy,  weak,  and  aching  frame. 
But  after  abstaining  entirely  from  all  these,  (and  for  more  than 
three  years  previous  I  had  abstained  from  the  use  of  all  distilled 
spirits)  my  health  gradually  improved  until  July  of  the  same 
year,  when  I  threw  away  my  tobacco,  and  since  that  time,  I  have 
not  chewed,  snuffed,  nor  smoked  the  filthy  weed.  From  this 
time,  my  health  daily  and  permanently  improved,  and  is  now 
perfectly  good.  When  I  first  abstained  from  all  the  above,  my 
weight  was  123  pounds,  and  now  it  is  153  pounds,  and  my 
stomach  no  more  emits  from  it  the  food  and  natural  drink  taken 
therein,  but  digests  it  in  the  most  natural  and  pleasant  manner  ; 
and  my  jaundice  and  sick  head-ache  have  left  me,  and  taken  up 
their  abode  where  they  can  find  more  natural  food  to  feed  on, 
than   plain   diet  and  cold  water. 

As  to  your  second  inquiry,  '  What  has  been  the  effect  on  the 
capability  of  making  great  and  continued  efforts  of  body  and 
mind?'  you  may  judge  when  1  inform  you  of  some  of  my  do- 
ings, (though  they  are  all  very  small),  viz:  my  business  by 
which  I  obtain  my  living  for  myself,  and  wife,  and  numerous 
family  of  children,  is  the  manufacturing  of  saddles,  harnesses, 
and  trunks.  The  purchasing  and  cutting  out  all  the  stock,  and 
selling  the  same  when  manufactured,  (as  well  as  making  ma.jy 
articles)  I  do  altogether  myself;  and,  during  the  past  year,  I  have 
discharged  the  duties  of  secretary  of  the  Ithaca  Temperance  So- 
ciety, and  secretary  of  the  Tompkins  County  Temperance  So- 
ciety ;  also  distributing  agent  for  the  county  of  Tompkins,  and 
have  received  and  distributed  to  all  the  towns  in  the  county, 
monthly,  5,300  Temperance  Recorders,  and  all  the  other  tem- 
perance papers  and  almanacs  which  have  been  sent  from  the 
New- York  State  Society,  (and  they  are  far  from  being  few),  and 
in  the  discharge  of  these  duties  have  written  about  five  hundred 
letters  ;  have  acted  as  secretary  for  the  Tompkins  County  Sab- 
bath School  Union,  and  secretary  of  a  fire  company,  in  order  to 


12  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [526 

escape  assault  and  battery  jury  suits,  to  settle  rum  quarrels ;  have 
superintended  a  Sabbath  school  every  Sabbath  from  April  to 
November,  three  miles  from  our  village,  which  I  have  always 
visited  on  foot ;  have  acted  as  treasurer  of  the  Ithaca  Education 
Society  ;  have  discharged  the  duties  of  Assessor  of  the  Town  of 
Ithaca,  in  discharge  of  which  I  have  visited  every  tenement  and 
piece  of  taxable  property  in  a  district  of  our  town  including  a 
population  of  4,000  inhabitants ;  discharged  the  duties  of  one  of 
the  trustees  of  the  Corporation  of  the  Village  of  Ithaca,  and  one 
of  the  street  committee  and  superintendent  of  bridge  building, 
&,c.  &lc.  ;  and  also  have  discharged  the  duties  of  tract  distributor 
in  a  district  which  I  ascertained  to  contain  a  population  of  one 
hundred  and  forty-seven  souls,  in  which  were  fifty-six  professors 
of  religion,  and  after  I  obtained  thirty  signatures  to  the  total  ab- 
stinence pledge,  there  were  eighty-five  members  of  temperance 
societies,  eleven  who  drank  alcohol^  thirty-four  children  between 
the  age  of  five  and  sixteen  years,  twenty-six  of  whom  attend 
Sabbath  school.  I  have  also  performed  nearly  all  the  labor  of  a 
gardener,  in  cultivating  and  raising,  or  growing  more  than  double 
the  vegetables  of  every  kind  required  for  my  family's  use. 
Although  all  the  above  are  small  things,  you  will  perceive  that 
my  leisure  moments  have  been  few  and  far  between. 

As  to  your  third  inquiry,  '  What  has  been  the  effect  on  the 
feelings  as  to  cheerfulness,  uniformity,  he.,'  I  can  only  say  that 
my  feelings  are  quite  uniform  and  cheerful,  compared  to  what 
they  formerly  were  ;  and  quite  free  from  hypochondria  or  the 
apprehension  of  coming  to  poverty,  (for  I  ever  was  poor)  as  is 
the  case  with  some  of  my  rich  neighbors." 

10.  From  William  Ladd,  Esq.,  of  Minot,  Maine,  Secretary 
of  the  American  Peace  Society. 

"  I  have  discontinued  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  for  about  five 
or  six  years,  and  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks  for  about  two 
years  and  a  half.  My  health  has  been  gradually  improving  ever 
since,  and  is  now  perfectly  good  ;  but  1  cannot  say  what  effect 
the  abstinence  from  intoxicating  liquors  may  have  had  on  it. 
The  '  effect  on  the  capability  of  making  great  and  continued 
efforts  of  body  and  mind,'  has  been  decidedly  favorable.  I  can 
do  nearly  double  the  mental  labor  which  I  could  formerly  do. 
I  have  always  been  troubled  with  a  superabundant  flow  of 
spirits.  I  have  been  able  of  late,  in  some  measure,  to  subdue 
them.  On  the  whole,  my  enjoyments,  both  mental  and  bodily, 
are  much  increased  by  abstinence  from  all  that  can  intoxi- 
cate." 


s 


527]  NINTH  REPORT. — 1836.  13 

11.  From  Amasa  Walker,  Esq.,  merchant,  of  Boston,  Mass. 

"  In  reply  to  yours  of  the  15th  instant,  I  would  state,  that 
it  is  now  several  years  since  I  have  entirely  abandoned  the  use 
of  all  kinds  of  alcoholic  drinks.  The  only  use  I  ever  made  of 
them  was  such  as  I  supposed  my  health  rendered  necessary. 
Being  of  a  feeble  constitution,  and  afflicted  with  dyspepsia,  I 
believed  it  essential  that  I  should  make  use  of  spirits  on  particu- 
lar occasions;  as,  when  travelling  and  exposed  to  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather,  or  uncommon  hardships  and  fatigues.  But  since 
I  have  adopted  the  principle  of  total  abstinence,  1  find  I  can 
perform  the  longest  journies,  by  night  and  day,  on  land  and 
water,  in  heat  and  cold,  and  yet  not  suffer  any  inconvenience 
from  the  want  of  stimulating  drinks.  So  far  from  it,  that  I 
know  my  general  health  is  improved  by  abstinence,  and  that  1 
can  make  greater  efforts  of  body  and  mind  than  formerly. 

I  am  fully  satisfied,  from  my  own  experience,  that  all  kinds 
of  intoxicating  drinks  irritate  the  organs  of  digestion,  impair  the 
vital  powers,  and  tend  inevitably  to  indispose  the  mind  for  calm, 
vigorous,  and  long  continued  action,  as  well  as  to  destroy  its 
cheerfulness  and  equanimity. 

Tobaao,  which  I  once  used  habitually,  I  am  now  satisfied  was 
highly  injurious,  and  subtracted  greatly  from  my  enjoyment  of 
life,  and  from  my  powers  of  physical  and  mental  action  ;  and 
hence,  I  would  most  earnestly  entreat  all,  especially  young  men, 
to  avoid  entirely  the  use,  in  any  form  whatever,  not  only  of 
all  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks,  but  also  of  all  narcotic  sub- 
stances." 

12.  From  the  Rev.  Abraham  Wheeler,  of  Meredith,  New 
Hampshire. 

"  Having  received  your  circular,  I  cheerfully  make  the  follow- 
ing statement  respecting  the  temperance  system. 

1  now  drink  neither  ardent  spirit,  nor  any  other  intoxicating 
beverage — not  wine,  cider,  or  beer.  The  effect  is,  I  am  uni- 
formly well  and  cheerful.  I  enjoy  moie,  even  in  eatin^  and 
drinking,  than  formerly ;  am  apparently  younger,  and  more 
vigorous,  than  I  was  ten  years  ago ;  and  now,  at  the  age  of 
fifty-six,  am  about  to  go  into  the  West,  as  a  young  man,  to  en 
gage  in  new  toils  and  labors." 

13.  From  the  Rev.  Henry  C.  Wright,  late  Agent  of  the 
American  Sunday  School  Union  ;  and  Children's  Preacher  in 
Boston. 

"  1.     The  effect  of  abstinence  on  health. 
I  once  kept  in  my  house  various  kinds  of  intoxicating  drinks — 
especially  wine,  cider  and  brandy  ;  and  used  them  occasionally — 
2 


14  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETT.  [528 

wine  and  cider  often,  generally  on  the  Sabbath  after  preaching. 
I  also  freely  used  tobacco,  smoking  it.  What  was  the  effect  on 
my  physical  nature  ?  I  had  a  constant  sensation  of  uneasiness  at 
the  stomach ;  a  constant  burning,  which  used  to  rise  into  my 
throat ;  what  is  commonly  called  the  heart-burn,  I  had  contin- 
ually. I  was  also  visited,  by  turns,  with  a  head-ache  that  en- 
tirely unfitted  me  for  business.  I  had  frequent  turns  of  diarrheq. 
I  was  afflicted  with  a  perpetual  thirst.  My  sleep  generally  dis- 
turbed and  unrefreshing.  My  food  seldom  relished,  and  never 
without  powerful  spices,  mustard,  pepper,  &,c.  At  the  age  of 
thirty,  I  used  to  think  that  1  was  getting  into  a  poor  way,  and 
should  soon  be  broken  down  as  to  health.  I  used  to  wonder 
what  could  be  the  cause  of  my  pains  and  troubles.  Such  1  now 
know  was  the  effect  of  stimulating  drinks  and  substances  on  my 
bodily  system. 

For  seven  or  eight  years  I  have  used  for  beverage  pure  cold 
water,  and  nothing  else  ;  nor  have  I  used  any  tobacco  in  any 
form.  1  have  used  nothing  but  cold  water  at  my  meals,  morn- 
ing, noon,  or  evening;  or  at  any  other  time.  My  uneasiness  at 
the  stomach,  the  heart-burning,  and  the  tendency  to  vomit,  are 
gone.  I  have  had  nothing  of  them  for  five  or  six  years.  My 
head  never  aches,  except  it  is  produced  by  studying  late  at 
night  and  want  of  sleep.  I  relish  my  food,  always  having  a 
good  appetite.  As  to  my  physical  system,  I  have  not  a  tenth 
part  so  many  pains  and  disorders  as  1  had  formerly,  and  I  know 
it  is  owing  to  my  having  abandoned  the  use  of  all  heating  and 
exciting  drinks,  and  of  tobacco. 

2.  As  to  the  effect  on  my  capability  of  making  great  and 
continued  efforts  of  body  and  mind  ? 

During  the  five  last  years  of  my  life,  I  have  made  greater  ef- 
forts of  body  and  mind  than  I  ever  made  before.  Two  of  these 
five  years,  I  was  an  Agent  of  the  American  Sabbath  School 
Union — in  which  I  travelled  about  five  thousand  miles — preach- 
ing and  lecturing,  upon  an  average,  about  once  a  day  during  the 
whole  time — frequently  riding  in  an  open  gig  twenty-five  and 
often  thirty  miles,  after  preaching  three  times  in  one  day.  I 
have  frequently  travelled  all  day,  in  my  open  gig,  in  rain  and 
snow  storms,  under  binning  suns,  and  in  freezing  cold.  I  never 
made  so  much  mental  effort,  nor  so  great.  1  have  written  more 
in  the  last  five  years  than  in  any  other  equal  portion  of  my  life. 
I  can  truly  say  that  since  I  have  got  my  system  thoroughly  into 
a  cold  water  habit,  I  know  not  what  fatigue  is.  Whereas,  ten 
years  ago,  I  used  to  get  exhausted  easily  by  mental  and  bodily 
efforts.  Eight  years  ago,  it  vould  have  tired  me  more  to 
speak  in  public  half  an  hour,  than  it  would  now  to  speak  an 
hour. 


529]  NINTH   REPORT. — 1836.  15 

3.  Effects  on  the  cheerfulness  and  uniformity  of  my  feel- 
ings. 

Here  I  could  write  a  volume.  I  solemnly  believe  that 
nineteen-twentieths  of  the  fault-findings,  the  unkindnesses, 
the  bickerings,  the  strifes  and  contentions  of  domestic  and 
social  life,  should  be  charged  directly  to  narcotic,  and  in- 
toxicating drinks,  and  substances.  The  use  of  tobacco  in  any 
form,  of  cider,  beer,  wine  or  any  other  intoxicating  drink,  is 
enough  to  destroy  the  most  cheerful  and  amiable  temper  that 
God  ever  made.  I  do  not  claim  to  have  received  such  a  temper 
from  my  Maker,  but  such  as  1  did  receive,  has  in  days  past  been 
awfully  perverted  by  stimulants  of  various  kinds.  I  used  to  be 
subject  to  fits  of  deep  depression,  and  great  excitement — as  I 
supposed  owing  to  a  peculiar  natural  temperament.  My  family 
used  to  call  me  nervous,  when  on  the  high  pressure  and  low 
pressure.  The  world  often  seemed  to  be  clothed  in  darkness — 
no  hope,  no  friends  ;  could  do  nothing;  make  no  mental  or  bodily 
efforts  ;  cared  not  to  see  any  one,  or  to  speak  to  any  one.  Then 
suddenly  an  irrepressible  feeling  of  joy,  that  would  burst  over  all 
bounds.  Thus  I  had  my  ups  and  downs — no  calmness  in  my 
joys,  no  uniformity  in  my  social  and  domestic  feelings  and  habits. 
J  was  often  visited  with  most  frightful,  horrid,  and  unimaginable 
dreams.  My  whole  intellectual  and  moral  nature  was  utterly 
disordered.  I  used  to  wonder,  and  so  did  my  family,  what  could 
be  the  matter  with  me.  I  now  know  what  was  the  trouble.  It 
was  the  occasional  use  of  stimulating  drinks,  combined  with  the 
habitual  use  of  that  most  filthy  and  disgusting  of  all  filthy  and 
disgusting  things,  tobacco.  I  lived  in  a  cloud  of  nauseating,  suf- 
focating tobacco-smoke.  May  God  forgive  me.  My  wonder  is, 
that  my  family,  or  my  people,  over  whom  I  was  placed  as  a 
minister  of  Christ,  could  endure  me.  My  head  was  deranged, 
my  heart  was  deranged,  and  my  body  was  deranged,  and  I 
thought  my  family  and  all  the  world  around  me,  was  deranged 
likewise. 

Now,  thanks  be  to  God,  I  am  free.  Ever  since  I  have  got 
my  system  into  a  cold  water  habit,  I  feel  like  a  new  man.  I 
enjoy  a  uniform  calmness  and  cheerfulness,  and  contentment  in 
my  heart,  to  which  the  drinker  of  stimulating  liquors,  and  those 
who  use  tobacco,  must  ever  be  strangers.  I  feel  that  my  mind 
is  now  in  a  state  to  enjoy  intercourse  with  men  and  with  God.  I 
know  that  intoxicating  and  exciting  drinks  and  substances  would 
entirely  disarrange  that  state,  and  unfit  me  to  enjoy  such  inter- 
course. This  world  uniformly  looks  cheerful,  and  death  and 
eternity  looks  pleasant  and  desirable.  I  can  but  give  thanks  to 
God  for  leading  me  back  to  simple  cold  water  as  my  only  bever- 
age.    I  think  I  shall  never  be  fooled  and  mocked  again  by  alco- 


16  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [530 

hol  in  any  form,  nor  by  tobacco.  I  am  free,  and  I  think  I  would 
rather  die  than  ever  again  become  the  slave  of  these  fell  de- 
stroyers. 

I  would  add — my  family,  having  all  united  with  me  in  the 
use  of  cold  water,  unite  with  me  in  attesting  the  truth  of  this 
statement.  Our  experience  enables  us  to  say  much  more  in 
praise  of  cold  water.  Be  assured  we  have  reason  to  bless  God, 
for  cold  water." 

14.  From  John  Ball,  Esq.,  merchant,  of  Boston,  Mass. 

"  About  six  years  since,  I  gave  up  the  use  of  ardent  spirit : 
about  three  years  since,  I  relinquished  the  use  of  wine  and  beer ; 
and  about  a  year  since,  I  ceased  using  cider,  coffee,  and  tea.  My 
usual  drink  being,  in  winter,  warm  water  and  milk,  and  in  sum- 
mer, cold  water  alone — so  that,  to  sum  up  all,  I  neither  use  ardent 
spirits,  wine,  cider,  or  any  other  intoxicating  drink.  1  neither 
smoke,  chew,  or  snuff  tobacco. 

I  have  traveled  much  the  past  winter,  which  has  been  re- 
markable for  intense  cold,  and  have  some  days  journeyed  when 
the  thermometer  was  8,  12,  14,  18,  20,  22,  and  once  25  de- 
grees below  zero,  and  drank  water  only ;  and  although  exposed 
early  and  late  to  the  intensity  of  cold,  as  above  named,  I  was 
not  frozen,  neither  did  I  take  cold  ;  while  some  others  with  whom 
I  occasionally  traveled,  would  drink  at  the  taverns  their  sling, 
bitters,  he.  he.,  I  was  comfortable,  and  did  not  suffer  as  much 
as  they  did  ;  and  am,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  perfect  health,  never  knowing  what  it  is  (since  1  ab- 
stained from  the  use  of  every  thing  of  an  intoxicating  and  ex- 
citing nature)  to  be  unwell  for  five  minutes  at  a  time. 

Having,  sir,  experienced  such  beneficial  results,  as  above 
mentioned,  (and  my  case,  1  presume,  is  by  no  means  singular), 
I  would  only  say  to  others,  try  this  same  course  as  an  experiment; 
and  the  effect  upon  the  system  will  be  so  manifest,  and  so  good, 
that  no  one  will  abandon  it." 

15,  From  Carter  Branton,  Esq.,  of  Brandon,  Virginia. 

"  Perhaps  the  experience  or  observation  of  a  person,  in  such 
a  retired  and  humble  sphere  of  life,  as  the  one  I  occupy,  will  be 
considered  of  small  value,  and  have  but  little  weight,  as  an  ex- 
ample to  others  ;  it  is,  therefore,  with  much  diffidence,  I  am  in- 
duced to  give  it  you,  as  an  inconsiderable  aid  in  the  noble  efforts 
you  are  now  essaying,  in  behalf  of  a  reformation,  that  is  vitally 
connected  with  all  that  is  dear  and  valuable  with  the  existence 
of  man. 


531]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  17 

Till  within  eight  or  nine  years  past,  when  I  had  lived  to  be 
more  than  thirty  years  of  age,  my  daily  habit  was  to  use  ardent 
spirit.  It  was  my  daily  practice  to  drink  from  two  to  four  glasses 
of  julep,  and  toddy,  and  sometimes  'spirit  and  water.'  This  was 
considered  a  temperate  and  moderate  use  of  the  article.  When 
in  the  habit  of  thus  using  it,  to  be  sure,  the  quantity  was  fre- 
quently varied.  I  do  not  think  I  ever  passed  a  moment,  in 
which  I  was  not  excited  by  the  spirit  used,  without  head-ache, 
drowsiness,  heaviness,  qualmishness  at  the  stomach,  and  an  apa- 
thy to  all  kinds  of  business  or  exertion.  My  feelings  were  most 
peculiarly  uncomfortable,  perfectly  indescribable,  in  the  morning, 
till  the  system  could  be  roused  and  excited.  At  that  time,  it 
was  my  conviction,  that  such  a  state  of  health  was  constitutional, 
or  inseparably  connected  with  the  climate  in  which  I  lived.  My 
health  had  become  precarious;  I  thought,  and  so  did  my  physi- 
cian, that  my  constitution  was  much  impaired,  and  becoming 
more  and  more  feeble. 

At,  or  about  the  period  alluded  to,  I  abandoned,  altogether, 
the  use  of  ardent  spirit;  solely,  however,  with  the  view  of  ascer- 
taining the  effects  of  abstinence  from  it,  on  my  general  health. 
Then,  if  I  had  heard  of,  I  had  not  reflected  at  all,  on  the  great 
moral  change,  that  was  believed  by  many  to  depend  on  the  dis- 
use of  intoxicating  liquors.  Twelve  months  after  I  had  lived 
without  using  ardent  spirit,  for  the  purpose  of  regaining  health, 
I  became  convinced,  that  abstinence  was  a  principle  intimately 
blended  with  the  best  interests  of  mankind  on  earth,  and  on 
which  his  felicity  beyond  the  grave  might  very  much  depend. 

With  the  abandonment  of  the  use  of  ardent  spirit,  my  health 
became  better,  and  continued  to  improve — and  1  can  most 
conscientiously  assert,  from  a  strict  observation  of  the  two  pe- 
riods, that  there  is  no  labor,  effort,  exercise,  or  occupation  of 
the  intellect  or  body,  that  1  cannot  perform  and  undergo  bet- 
ter, since  the  use  of  ardent  spirit  has  been  forsaken,  than  prior 
to  that  period — both  my  mental  and  physical  capacity  possess 
an  elasticity,  and  an  untiring  assiduity,  in  whatever  they  may 
be  occupied,  that  I  am  satisfied  they  did  not  when  it  was  my 
habit  to  use  intoxicating  liquors.  If  any  one  can  be  a  judge 
of  their  disposition,  I  feel  certain  that  mine  has  partaken  of 
its  full  share,  with  the  rest  of  my  system,  of  the  benefits  of 
abstinence — for,  of  all  the  properties  of  the  heart,  none  suffers 
more,  from  this  foe  to  the  human  race,  than  the  disposition), 
to  be  at  peace  with  one's  self  and  all  the  world.  I  have  per- 
sonally witnessed  many  irascible  tempi-rs,  rendered  placid,  and 
meek,  and  cheerful,  and  robbed  of  their  acerbity,  by  abstinence 
from  intoxicating  liquors. 
2* 


18  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [53*2 

No  friend  to  happiness,  and  the  human  race,  can  withhold  from 
you,  their  best  wishes,  in  your  labors  for  this  entei prise,  the 
greatest  and  most  important  that  is  connected  with  the  earthly 
destinies  of  man.  That  every  being  of  the  present  generation 
could  become  subjects  of  the  reformation,  is  greatly  to  be  de- 
sired and  prayed  for — but  the  interest  and  solicitude  of  every 
friend  to  the  cause,  cannot  be  otherwise  than  intense,  in  behalf 
of  the  rising  race — who  will,  in  a  few  years,  occupy  the  places 
of  their  fathers,  and  be  the  only  actors  in  the  great  drama  of 
life — that  they  should  proscribe,  understanding^,  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating drinks — that  they  should  early  be  impressed  with  the 
principles,  and  become  accustomed  to  the  habits  of  abstinence  ; 
is  an  event  that  would,  beyond  almost  any  other,  promote  not 
only  their  own  benefit,  but  the  highest  good  of  the  world.'' 

16.  From  the  Rev.  Edward  Hitchcock,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry, and  Natural  History,  in  Amherst  College,  Mass. 

"  In  order  that  you  may  rightly  understand  my  case,  T  ought 
to  state,  that,  in  consequence  of  an  ignorant  disregard  of  the  laws 
of  hygiene,  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago  my  health  began  to 
be  seriously  affected  with  dyspeptic   complaints,   which  became 
more  and    more   aggravated    for  fifteen  years ;  chiefly  in  conse- 
quence of   the  absurd   prescriptions    that    I    followed.     Among 
others,  so  far  from   being  directed   to  abstain  from  all  alcoholic 
drinks,  brandy  was  recommended   with  dinner,  and  wine   after 
preaching  on   the   Sabbath.     From  the  brandy  1  perceived  no 
good  effect,  and  therefore  soon  abandoned  it ;  and  the  wine  was 
so  decidedly   and   immediately   injurious,  that   1   used   it  a  still 
shorter  time.     One   recommendation,   however,  that   was  given 
me  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago,  was  of  real  service  ;  viz.    to  give 
up  the  use  of  tea  and  coffee  in  the  morning.     For  a  few  months 
after  doing  it,  an  almost    daily  head-ache  afflicted   me.     Soon, 
however,  head-ache  and  I  parted  company  ;  and  we  have  hardly 
met  since,  except  of  late,  in  consequence  of  a  severe  blow  on  the 
head.     Even   now  we   are   on    poor   terms  ;  and  it  threatens  to 
leave  me,  if  I  will  not  nourish  it  with  some  drink  more  stimulat- 
ing than  water.     I  continued  in  the  use  of  weak  tea  at  night  for 
several  years  longer;  bui   at   length,  I   gave  up  every  alcoholic 
and   narcotic  drink,  and   do  not  lecollect   that   I  have  tasted  of 
them   for  the  last  five  or  six   years,  except   at  the  communion 
table.     In  these  changes,  the  nearer  I  came  to  the  use  of  water 
alone  for  drink,  the  greater  I  found  to  be  the  advantage,  bnth  to 
health  and  happiness.     The  disuse  of  snuff,  also,  I  found  to  be 
decidedly  beneficial.     Ten  years  ago,  my  system  had  become  so 
much  shattered  by  lon^  abuse,  that   I    was  obliged   to  leave  the 
ministry.     But  by  simplicity  in  living,  with  water  only  for  drink, 


533]  NINTH  REPORT.— 1836.  19 

and  faithful  attention  to  exercise,  I  was  ere  long  enabled  to  re- 
sume intellectual  labor.  And  since  that  lime,  I  have  generally 
been  able  to  accomplish  far  more,  both  physically  and  intellect- 
ually, than  at  any  previous  period.  However  small  my  labors 
may  seem  to  those  who  possess  more  vigorous  constitutions,  and 
more  industrious  habits,  I  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  for 
the  power  to  perform  them  :  for  they  seem  to  me  to  be  so 
much  added  to  my  existence,  as  the  rich  fruits  of  an  imper- 
fect conformity  to  the  rules  of  temperance  :  since  my  constitu- 
tion, ten  years  ago,  appeared  to  be  so  nearly  worn  out  that  it 
seemed  scarcely  possible  it  should  ever  recover  from  the  pros- 
tration under  which  it  labored.  Precisely  how  much  of  these 
good  effects  of  attention  to  temperance  and  exercise,  I  am  to 
impute  to  disuse  of  alcoholic  and  stimulating  drinks,  I  am  unable 
to  say.  Yet  I  am  quite  sure,  that  had  I  continued  to  use  such 
drinks,  all  the  other  means  that  1  have  employed  would  have 
been  wholly  ineffectual.  The  particular  benefits,  that,  in  my 
case,  1  think  can,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  be  (raced  to  the 
use  of  water  only,  as  a  drink,  are  the  following: 

1.  Freedom  from  head-aches. 

2.  Relief  from  nervous  irritation. 

3.  Freedom  from  unnatural  thirst ;  so  that  now  I  never 
drink  more;than  nature  demands;  and  when  1  do  drink,  it  is 
with  great  relish. 

4  Greater  equanimity  and  clearness  of  mind  ;  so  that  I 
can  pursue  study  in  moderation  a  much  longer  time  without  the 
necessity  of  seasons  of  relaxation :  1  mean  long  seasons  of  re- 
laxation. I  should  doubt  whether,  for  a  single  day,  I  can  study 
more  than  when  under  the  influence  of  stimulants,  except  so  far 
as  improved  health  operates  favorably.  But  I  am  not  apt  under 
the  aqueous  regimen  to  overwork  the  mind  one  day,  so  as  to  un- 
fit it  for  exertion  the  next :  and  in  the  long  run,  1  doubt  not  but 
the  power  of  making  intellectual  efforts  is  much  increased.  And 
the  same  is  true  of  bodily  exertion. 

5.  I  can  judge  better  when  nature  demands  repose.  And 
I  find  that  in  ordinary  cases  the  system  chooses  for  this  pur- 
pose the  early  part  of  the  night. 

6.  More  uniformity  and  buoyancy  of  the  animal  spirit.  A 
cheerful  state  of  mind  is  the  consequence,  and  a  capacity  to  en- 
joy for  a  much  longer  time,  and  with  few  drawbacks,  the  pleasures 
of  social  intercourse. 

7.  The  power  of  determining  with  greater  accuracy  the 
nature  of  the  religious  emotions.  So  long  as  the  brain  is  under 
the  influence  of  unnatural  stimulus,  or  inactive  from  its  absence, 
the  mind  cannot  well  determine  its  real  state  on  this  important 
subject. 


20  AMERICAN    TEMPEKANCE    SOCIETY.  [534 

A  few  years  ago  I  was  called  to  make  a  geological  survey  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts,  which  required  about  five  thousand 
miles  of  travel,  in  an  open  wagon,  at  a  rate  not  greater  than 
from  twenty  to  thirty  miles  per  day  ;  and  very  severe  bodily 
exertion,  in  climbing  mountains,  and  in  breaking,  trimming,  and 
transporting  more  than  five  thousand  specimens  of  rocks  and 
minerals.  I  was  usually  employed  from  sunrise  till  ten  o'clock 
at  night,  with  little  interruption  ;  and  1  think  it  was  the  severest 
protracted  labor  that  I  ever  underwent.  Yet,  during  all  my 
wanderings,  1  drink  not  one  drop  of  alcohol,  nor  indeed  any 
kind  of  stimulating  drink,  except  perhaps  from  twelve  to  twenty 
cups  of  weak  tea.  And  I  found  myself  more  capable  of  exer- 
tion and  fatigue  than  in  former  years,  when  I  was  in  the  occa- 
sional use  of  stimulating  drinks. 

In  my  early  days  I  labored  upon  a  farm  and  made  use  of  al- 
coholic drinks,  accoiding  to  general  usage.  One  of  my  fellow- 
laborers,  however,  having  been  enticed  to  drink  when  only  six 
years  old,  until  he  was  thoroughly  intoxicated,  could  never  after- 
wards be  persuaded  to  take  another  drop  of  the  poison  :  and 
although  of  less  size  than  myself,  1  always  found  him  more 
than  a  match  for  me  in  mowing,  reaping.  &c,  and  always  bless- 
ed with  more  vigorous  health.  Up  to  this  day  he  has  adhered 
to  his  resolution  not  to  taste  of  alcohol  ;  (even  cider  he  drinks, 
only  when  it  is  new,)  and  the  consequence  is,  that  his  health 
has  been  always  good  ;  he  has  prospered  in  his  worldly  busi- 
ness, and  has  a  large  family  o(  children,  who,  1  understand,  are 
ready,  as  soon  as  old  enough  to  understand  the  subject,  to  fail 
into  the  ranks  of  temperance  with  their  father  ;  and  to  fight  its 
battles.  It  is  now  forty  years  since  he  first  enlisted.  If  any  de- 
sire to  have  this  statement  corroborated,  let  them  call  on  Mr. 
Horatio  Hoyt,  of  Deerfield,  and  they  can  learn  the  whole  truth; 
for  he  is  the  individual  to  whom  I  have  referred. 

In  conclusion,  I  cannot  but  express  the  conviction,  that 
one  reason  why  many  temperate  men  derive  but  little  ap- 
parent benefit  from  the  use  of  water  as  a  drink,  and  continue 
to  employ  it  rather  from  a  sense  of  duty  than  from  choice, 
is  because  they  still  continue  in  the  habitual  or  occasional  use 
of  some  mild  stimulant  mixed  with  it,  either  alcoholic  or  nar- 
cotic: and  thus  by  keeping  up  an  appetite  for  stimulants,  they 
prevent  the  system  from  getting  into  that  natural  state  in 
which  it  prefers  water  to  every  other  beverage,  and  finds  that 
amply  sufficient  for  recruiting  all  its  energies.  At  least,  this 
view  of  the  subject  corresponds  with  my  experience,  and  I  be- 
lieve also  with  the  laws  of  physiology." 


535]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  21 

17.  From  the  Rev.  John  Pierce,  D.  D.,  of  JBrookline,  Mass. 

"For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  have  conscientiously 
abstained  from  distilled  liquors.  In  the  mean  time,  I  have  occa- 
sionally taken  a  little  wine,  when  in  company,  and  one  tumbler 
of  cider  at  dinner. 

At  length,  thinking  this  unnecessary,  having  before  me  the 
example  of  a  beloved  father,  who  abjured  the  use  of  every  intox- 
icating beverage,  after  he  was  eighty,  and  lived  with  both  bodily 
and  mental  faculties  almost  wholly  unimpaired,  till  past  the  age 
of  ninety-one  ;  and  continually  hearing,  that  the  habitual  drinkers 
of  ardent  spirits  exclaim,  '  Give  us  your  wine,  and  we  will  drink 
no  more  rum,'  I  resolved  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  every  thing 
which  can  intoxicate. 

This  practice  I  have  continued  for  more  than  two  years  ;  and 
the  experiment  has  more  than  answered  my  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. 

1.  The  result  is,  that  my  health  has  been  firm  and  uninter- 
rupted.    I  have  not  had  even  a  common  cold. 

2.  As  to  corporeal  exertions,  though  in  my  sixty-third  year, 
I  walk  ten  miles  in  an  afternoon,  at  the  rate  of  four  miles  an 
hour,  without  fatigue,  and,  what  is  better,  without  thirst. 

Indeed,  since  I  have  abjured  cider,  I  often  dine  without  drink- 
ing even  water,  especially  when  I  have  soup  or  broth. 

As  to  mental  efforts,  I  never  feel  so  well  prepared  for  close 
application,  as  immediately  after  I  have  walked  ten  miles  without 
drink. 

3.  Uniform  health  of  body  is  almost  necessarily  accompanied 
with  cheerfulness  of  mind.  The  saddest  interruption  I  find  to 
the  latter,  is  that,  in  the  use  of  drinks,  1  cannot  induce  more  to 
1  be  as  I  am.' 

That  Brookline  is  not  behind  the  age,  in  the  cause  of 
temperance,  may  appear  from  the  following  fact,  that,  whereas, 
within  ten  years,  there  have  been  five  places  in  the  town,  where 
spirituous  liquors  were  vended,  there  is  not  now,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, any  sold  within  its  precincts. 

That  you  may  live  to  witness  a  similar  result,  in  every  part  of 
our  land,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  your  brother  in  the  temperance 
reformation." 

18.  From  Elisha  Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Schenectady,  New  York. 

"  When  I  was  five  or  six  years  old,  I  was  taken  to  my  father's 
"case,"  by  an  older  brother,  and  drank  spirit  until  I  became  so 
drunk  as  to  be  nearly  twenty-four  hours  without  knowing  any- 
thing. The  whole  family  were  alarmed — the  neighboring 
physicians  called  in,  and  death  was  expected  to  ensue.     This 


22  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [536 

debauch  gave  me  a  decided  antipathy  to  strong  drink,  which 
lasted  until  after  I  went  to  my  apprenticeship,  in  my  sixteenth 
year.  And  it  was  the  jeers  and  jokes,  and  being  called  old 
woman,  sneak,  and  flunk,  and  such  like  names  by  my  shop- 
mates,  which,  after  some  weeks,  led  me  to  take  a  very  little 
spirits  in  a  great  deal  of  water.  During  the  five  years  of  my 
apprenticeship  I  continued  to  drink,  very  frequently,  if  not 
daily.  It  was  the  practice  of  the  shop.  A  few  weeks  since 
I  came  in  company  with  an  apprentice  of  a  later  date  than 
myself,  of  the  same  shop, — a  gentleman  of  wealth,  respecta- 
bility and  character — a  totaler — and  we  counted  up  twenty- 
one  journeymen  and  apprentices,  who  had  wrought  in  that 
shop  during  the  period  of  our  two  apprenticeships.  But  two 
of  these,  (except  our  two  selves,)  we  think  are  now  alive, 
one  is  the  lowest  of  drunkards,  the  other  is  occasionally  intox- 
icated ;  and  of  the  seventeen  which  are  believed  to  be  dead, 
ten  were  public  drun'cards,  and  the  remaining  seven  used  in- 
toxicating drinks  freely ;  and  it  is  known  some  of  them  increas- 
ed the  virulence  of  disease  thereby,  and  very  probably,  in  this 
way,  shortened  their  days.  Verily,  I  am  «  brand  plucked  out  of 
the  burning!  We  all  began  to  drink  temperately!  and  not  one 
designed  to  be  a  drunkard !  What  desolations,  for  time  and 
eternity,  have  been  induced  by  temperate  drinking! 

It  is  about  fifteen  years  since  I  quit  the  use  ol  distilled  spirit 
as  an  ordinary  beverage.  And  this  I  did,  because  I  was  fully 
satisfied  that  the  use  of  it  was  doing  incalculable  mischief, 
and  I  began  to  feel,  more  deeply  than  formerly,  that  I  was 
accountable  for  the  whole  of  the  influence  I  could  exert  on  all 
and  each  of  my  fellow  men.  I  also  found  that  the  extreme 
acidity  of  my  stomach,  (which  I  am  now  fully  persuaded  was 
induced  and  strengthened,  by  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,)  was 
rendered  more  distressing  by  the  use  of  spirits.  This  particular 
complaint  has  been  mitigated  and  my  general  health  improved 
by  their  disuse.  But  "  total  abstinence  from  all  that  can  intox- 
icate, as  a  beverage,"  has  done  more  still  to  relieve  the  acidity 
of  my  stomach  and  improve  my  general  health.  I  discontinued 
the  use  of  wine  and  beer,  as  a  beverage,  about  seven  years  ago, 
not  because  I  then  thought  they  would,  or  did  hurt  me,  but 
because  I  saw  they  impaired  my  influence  as  a  friend  and  ad- 
vocate of  the  cause  of  temperance.  For  the  same  reason,  two 
years  since  I  quit  the  use  of  cider,  and  all  acoholic  drinks. 
And  1  can  truly  say,  that  total  abstinence  from  all  that  can 
intoxicate,  is  not  only  safe,  but  comfortable.  It  not  only  is  a 
good  example  to  others,  especially  our  own  households,  but 
causes  increased  health  to  the  system,  and  equanimity  and 
cheerfulness  of  temper.  It  tends  to  promote  discretion  and 
sound  judgment,  and  increased  purity  of  heart  and  life. 


537]  NINTH  REPORT. — 1836.  23 

For  a  few  of  the  last  years,  I  have  spent  about  a  fourth  of 
my  time  as  a  voluntary  agent  to  promote  the  cause  of  Temper- 
ance, and  have  become  acquainted  with  the  history  of  a  large 
number  of  moderate  and  immoderate  drinkers  of  alcoholic 
beverages,  from  the  light  champaigns,  to  fourth  proof  brandies. 
I  have  watched  the  reformation  of  some  dozens  of  inebriates, 
and  have  been  compelled  to  witness  the  relapse  of  many  who 
had  "run  well"  for  a  time.  And  I  say,  without  any  fear  of 
contradiction,  by  any  one  who  has  paid  attention  to  the  subject, 
that  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  reformation  of  drunkards,  is  the 
habitual  use  of  wine,  beer,  cider  and  cordials,  by  the  respec- 
table members  of  community.  And  in  very  many,  I  believe 
in  most  cases,  intemperate  habits  are  formed — the  love  of 
alcoholic  drinks  induced,  by  the  habitual  use  of  these  "lighter 
beverages."  I  have  not  room  on  this  sheet  to  detail  specific 
cases  in  confirmation  of  the  foregoing  positions,  but  will  refer 
you  to  the  Albany  Temperance  Recorder  of  May,  1835,  in 
which,  in  an  article  commencing  on  the  first  page,  you  will  find 
twenty-seven,  all  real  cases,  of  the  reformed  and  relapsed, 
proving  that  "  the  lighter  drinks "  take  the  drunkard  back 
to  his  intemperance,  even  when  he  would  reform  ;  and  that 
they  who  mean  to  stand,  must  not  tamper  with  the  foe.  I  am 
happy  to  add,  to  No.  2,  there  mentioned— that  while  he 
drank  his  cider,  though  in  lessened  quantities,  he  found  the 
"  vile  thirst"  unsubdued,  and  a  constant  warfare  was  kept  up 
in  his  throat  and  stomach,  and  he,  months  since,  became  a 
totaler.     The  "  vile  thirst"  is  gone,  and  his  eyes  are  well 

I  rejoice  to  say  that  a  very  great  majority  of  the  several 
hundreds  of  clergymen,  of  my  acquaintance,  are  decided  friends 
of  the  temperance  cause,  and  both  by  preaching  and  practice 
inculcate  "  total  abstinence  from  all  that  can  intoxicate,  as  a 
beverage."  The  fields  of  labor,  of  the  few  who  are  exceptions, 
are,  so  far  as  I  can  recollect,  like  the  "mountains  of  Gilboa." 
No  dews  of  divine  grace  distil  on  them.  And  more  than  this, 
the  drunkard  and  the  young  recruits  to  this  army  of  five  hundred 
thousand  drunkards,  all    make    a    battery  of  these   clergymen, 

and  say.   "  Rev.    Mr.  won't  sign  your  total  abstinence 

pledge,"  and  "  Rev.  ,  D.  D.   chinks  his  wine  and  says 

c  It  is  good.'"  "  If  alcohol  is  good  in  wine,  so  it  is  in  whiskey, 
and  rum."  And  so  these  dear  brethren,  who  should  be  the  first 
to  bar  the  road  to  death,  and  pluck  sinners  from  the  burnings,  are 
really  stumbling  blocks,  over  which  drunkards,  and  temperate 
drinkers,  too,  stumb'e  into  hell.  O,  if  I  could  arouse  these 
"watchmen,"  1  would  "cry  aloud  and  spare  not,"  until  they 
should    put    on  the  "beautiful   garments"    of  self-denial,    and 


24  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    S0CIETT.  [539 

come  up  to  the  "help  of  the  Lord,"  against  the  desolations  and 
ruins  of  drunkenness. 

I  am  under  infinite  obligations  to  Him,  who  guided  me,  when 
I  knew  him  not,  and  upheld  me,  while  so  many  have  fallen  on 
my  right  hand  and  on  my  left ;  and,  by  His  grace,  I  will  labor 
in  this  field,  and  where  His  providence  may  appoint.  Poor  is 
the  return  I  can  make.  But  I  will  not  be  unthankful  for  the 
"  day  of  small  things."  To  be  humbly  grateful  for  a  little,  is 
the  way  to  get  more." 

19.  From  the  Hon.  David  Porter,  American  Charge  d'af- 
faires,   at  Constantinople,  Turkey. 

"  I  have  received  your  favor  of  January  1st,  accompanied  by 
a  volume  of  Reports  presented  to  me  in  behalf  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  American  Temperance  Society,  and 
asking  for  any  information  I  can  furnish  with  regard  to  the  na- 
ture and  effects  of  intoxicating  substances,  used  in  the  countries 
I  have  visited,  and  my  opinion  as  to  the  effects  which  would  fol- 
low the  discontinuance  of  their  use. 

I  beg  leave  to  return  through  you  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee, my  sincere  thanks  for  the  valuable  volume  they  have 
presented  to  me,  which  doubtless  has  done  much  good  in  the 
world,  and  promises  much  more;  and  so  far  as  my  experience 
goes,  I  can  safely  declare  that  I  know  of  no  intoxicating  sub- 
stances whatever,  however  used,  except  as  a  medicine,  but  what 
are  injurious  to  the  health  and  intellect  of  those  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  them;  and  I  conceive  that  the  discontinuance 
of  the  use  of  them  throughout  the  world  would  be  a  jn'eat 
benefit." 

20.  From  the  Hon.  Joshua  Darling,  Chairman  of  the  Exec- 
utive Committee  of  the  New  Hampshire  State  Temperance 
Society. 

"  In  answer  to  your  inquiries,  allow  me  to  say,  if  my  experi- 
ence can  be  of  any  use  in  promoting  the  great  Temperance 
reform,  I  will  overcome  all  scruples  of  delicacy  on  the  subject, 
and  here  submit  my  narrative  to  your  disposal,  to  be  used  as 
you  think  best.  I  am  now  sixty  years  of  age.  It  is  about 
seven  years  since  I  abandoned  the  use  of  ardent  spirit.  About 
four  years  ago,  I  gave  up  wine  and  tobacco;  and  for  one  year 
I  have  used  no  cider,  nor  do  I  permit  its  use  on  my  farm  or  in 
my  family. 

From  early  youth,  I  had  been  accustomed  to  the  constant, 
free  and  unrestrained  use  of  ardent  spirit.  When  in  college, 
over  forty  years  ago,  most  of  the  students  were  in  the  habit  of 


539]  NINTH  REPORT.— 1836.  $5 

using,  and  giving  to  their  friends,  from  (heir  own  stores,  ardent 
spirit  and  wine.  As  to  the  quantity  drank,  we  did  not  all 
conform  to  the  standard  of  one  of  our  number,  who,  when 
inquired  of  by  President  Wheelock,  answered,  "  that  the  least 
quantity  he  could  put  up  with,  to  prevent  the  water  from 
injuring  his  system,  was  from  two  to  three  pints  daily" — but, 
with  few  exceptions,  we  drank  too  much  for  our  health,  or  for 
our  advancement  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  For  thirty 
years,  after  obtaining  my  degree,  I  was  engaged  in  trade  ;  and, 
during  all  that  time,  I  sold  the  deleterious  poison,  in  large  and 
small  quantities,  having  both  a  tavern  and  a  retail  license  for 
that  purpose.  Is  it  much  to  be  wondered  at,  that  during 
nearly  half  a  century,  in  which  I  was  in  the  almost  constant 
use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  daily  furnishing  them  for  others 
for  the  last  thirty  years  of  the  time,  if  the  whole  man  became 
deeply  affected  by  such  a  course  ?  Although  in  the  eye  of  the 
world  I  may  not  have  been  considered  a  confirmed  inebriate, 
as  I  had  my  seasons  of  intermission,  and  never  entirely  gave  up 
business,  yet  I  am  constrained  to  confess,  that  I  was  descending 
the  downhill  path  to  destruction,  and  when  I  seriously  reflect 
on  my  then  situation,  it  is  my  deliberate  opinion,  that,  if  the 
blessed  temperance  reformation  had  not  come  to  my  rescue,  I 
should,  like  thousands,  and  tens  of  thousands  of  others,  who 
began  as  1  did,  by  moderate  drinking,  have  found,  as  they  have 
done,  the  same  drunkard's  grave. 

I  was  constitutionally  very  nervous,  and  subject  to  periodical 
returns  of  depression  of  spirits,  and  I  am  fully  persuaded,  now, 
that  this  tendency  was  greatly  increased  by  the  use  of  stimu- 
lants, which  so  enfeebled  my  nerves  that  I  could  hardly,  at 
times,  write  my  name,  and  this,  for  the  time,  induced  me  to  give 
up  corresponding  with  my  friends.  But  since  I  have  refrained 
from  ardent  spirit,  and  more  especially  from  all  intoxicating 
drinks,  and  the  use  of  that  subtle  poison,  tobacco,  my  nervous 
system  has  regained  more  than  its  wonted  tone ;  my  hand 
writing  is  firm,  and  equal  to  that  of  my  younger  days.*  My 
general  health  is  much  improved,  and  I  have  a  more  uniform 
and  constant  flow  of  animal  spirits. 

My  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the  free  use  of  intox- 
icating drinks  unfits  the  mind  for  study,  meditation,  and  reac- 
tion ;  and  incapacitates  the  subject  from  performing,  prop< :  !y, 
his  duties  to  himself,  or  to  his  Creator. 

In  addition  to  all  the  other  blessings  which  have,  in  my  c  e, 
followed  the  change  in  my  habits,  I  have  reason  to  hope,  that 
by  the  grace  of  God,  1  have  been  led  to  embrace  the  Saviour, 

*  And  it,  truly,  is  a  fine  specimen  of  penmanship. — J.  E. 

3 


26  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [540 

as  offered  in  the  gospel.  I  do,  therefore,  most  earnestly,  and 
affectionately,  entreat  all  persons  of  every  age,  and  more  espe- 
cially all  students,  in  every  stage  of  their  education,  to  abstain 
entirely  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  and  drugs;  and  to  take 
for  their  motto,  what,  through  divine  goodness  my  entire  family 
of  ten  children,  have  adopted, — '  touch  not — taste  not — handle 
not'  the  destroyer  of  our  peace  here,  and  of  our  hopes  hereafter. 
To  God  alone,  who  is  mighty  and  able  to  save,  by  whom  my 
deliverance  has  been  wrought,  through  the  entire  abstinence  prin- 
ciple, would  I  render  all  the  praise." 

21.  From  the  Hon.  Lewis  Cass,  Secretary  of  War,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C. 

"  I  have  received  your  letter,  proposing  certain  inquiries 
respecting  my  experience  on  the  subject,  of  abstinence  from 
intoxicating  liquors.  The  pressure  upon  my  time  is  such,  that 
I  can  only  give  you  a  very  brief  answer. 

I  have  never  tasted  ardent  spirits,  nor  have  I,  at  any  time, 
during  life,  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking  wine.  It  is,  of  course, 
almost  useless  to  add,  that  I  know  nothing  of  the  effects  of 
stimulating  liquors  upon  the  constitution,  except  by  observing 
them  in  others.  I  have,  perhaps,  during  a  portion  of  my  life, 
been  as  much  exposed  as  most  men.  Having  lived,  since 
boyhood,  in  a  new  country;  having  served  in  the  army  during 
war,  and  having  been  led  by  official  duties  to  traverse  almost 
all  the  western  region  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi ;  it  is  impossible  to  say  what  effects  would  have  re- 
sulted from  the  use  of  stimulating  liquors,  at  periods  of*  great 
exposure  or  fatigue.  I  can  only  say  that  I  have  done  well 
enough  without  them." 

22.  From  the  Rev.  Alonzo  Potter,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  In- 
tellectual and  Moral  Philosophy,  in  Union  College,  Schenectady, 
New  York. 

"  I  have  to  acknowledge  your  letter  of  the  20th  ult.,  in  which 
you  inquire  whether  I  have  received  any  special  benefit  from 
discontinuing  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  as  a  beverage.  1 
answer  by  stating  a  fact.  During  two  years  which  have  elapsed 
since  I  discontinued  the  use  of  wine  and  porter,  the  only  intox- 
icating substances  which  I  have  been  accustomed  to  take,  I 
have  improved  materially  in  health,  and  have  been  able  to  make 
more  prolonged  efforts  both  of  body  and  mind.  We  are  not 
authorized,  from  any  such  fact,  to  infer  that  the  abstinence  and 
the  improved  health,  stand  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  cause 
and  effect     But  when  it  is  found,  as  I  doubt  not  it  will  be  in 


541]  NINTH  REPORT. — 1836.  27 

the  course  of  your  inquiry,  that  similar  experiments  by  ©thera 
have  been  generally,  if  not  invariably,  followed  by  the  same 
results,  the  relation  will  be  established,  and  will  merit  the  deep 
regard  of  all  young  men. 

It  may  be  proper  to  add,  that  this  change  in  my  habits  was 
not  induced  by  any  hope  of  promoting  my  health — 1  had  rather 
cherished  the  belief  that  some  local  infirmity,  as  well  as  an  ex- 
treme general  debility,  from  which  I  sometimes  suffered,  might 
be  partially  relieved  by  the  use  of  good  wine,  and,  in  this  opin- 
ion, I  found  myself  confirmed  by  the  advice  of  judicious  friends, 
and  physicians.  But  it  was  growing  more  and  more  evident  that 
I  could  not  succeed  in  persuading  others  to  renounce  one  kind 
of  intoxicating  liquor,  while  I  continued  the  habitual  and  daily 
use  of  another,  and  that  in  order  to  impress  upon  reformed 
inebriates  the  necessity  of  total  abstinence  from  all  that  coidd 
intoxicate,  as  the  only  means  of  persevering  in  their  new  course, 
I  must  add  example  to  precept.  And  further,  that  related  as  I 
was,  to  a  large  number  of  interesting  young  men,  the  hope  ol  the 
country  and  of  the  church,  it  was  peculiarly  incumbent  on  me 
to  exhibit  a  consistent  and  blameless  example.  On  these  ac- 
counts I  felt  obliged  to  deviate  from  my  former  practice,  but 
with  the  expectation  of  suffering  considerable  physical  discom- 
fort in  my  own  person,  and  not  a  little  reproach  from  others. 
In  both  these  respects  I  have  been  happily  disappointed.  My 
friends  have  appeared  perfectly  willing  to  concede  me  the  en- 
joyment of  my  liberty  in  this  respect,  and  I  have  had,  since  the 
expiration  of  the  first  few  weeks,  almost  daily  consciousness  of 
increased  health  and  enjoyment.  While  I  continued  to  drink 
wine,  I  had  repeated  attacks  of  hoarseness  and  sore  throat,  which 
disabled  me  from  the  comfortable  discharge  of  my  duties  as  a 
minister,  and  induced  me  at  length  to  retire  from  them.  Since 
October  1833,  I  have  had  but  one  slight  attack  of  this  kind; 
and  there  has  been  no  Sunday,  on  which  I  could  not  have  of- 
ficiated in  public  with  ease.  I  do  not  suppose  that  the  disuse 
of  wine  has  been  the  only  cause  of  this  improvement,  but  I  am 
persuaded  that  it  has  been  one  of  the  most  powerful.  It  should 
be  understood  that  for  some  years  previous,  I  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  take  wine,  at  dinner,  daily,  and  with  as  much  freedom 
as  was  proper  in  a  clergyman,  or  in  a  zealous  advocate  of  the 
temperance  cause. 

In  concluding  this  letter,  I  cannot  refrain  from  inserting  an 
extract  from  the  private  letter  of  a  friend,  which  I  received  a 
few  days  since.  The  writer  is  a  gentleman  of  distinguished 
opulence  and  worth,  now  considerably  advanced  in  life  ;  and  if 
I  felt  at  liberty  to  mention  his  name,  it  would  secure  for  his  re- 
marks, wherever  he  is  known,  the    most   implicit   confidence. 


28  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [542 

He  says,  'I  don't  know  but  I  am  likely  to  become  a  cold  wa- 
ter man.     The  first  day  of  my  stay  in  ,  I  asked  for  a 

bottle  of  claret ;  and  was,  to  my  surprise,  told  that  there  was  no 
wine  kept  in  the  house,  and  that  further,  none  of  the  boarders 
used  wine.  At  the  moment  I  hesitated,  but  finally  concluded 
that  as  I  was  situated,  it  would  not  be  courteous  to  interrupt 
the  habits  of  the  house.  From  this  moment  I  viewed  myself 
as  beginning  an  experiment  on  the  question  of  total  abstinence. 
I  have  so  far  persevered,  and  may  be  said  almost  to  have  be- 
come a  convert,  it  being  ten  weeks  since  I  have  confined  my- 
self to  the  wine  of  our  first  parents.  So  far,  I  am  satisfied  that 
my  health,  which  was  good  before,  has  improved.  My  eyes 
have  been  stronger — my  intellect  clearer — and  my  sleep  more 
oblivious.  Should  this  experiment  result,  as  I  now  expect  it 
will,  in  an  entire  relinquishment  of  this  species  of  indulgence, 
it  will  be  a  fact  of  some  little  notoriety  in  my  history  ;  for  per- 
haps there  are  not  many,  who,  for  thirty  years  past,  have  taken 
more  pains  and  lavished  more  expense  in  procuring  exquisite 
wines,  under  the  impression  that  they  would  cheer  not  only 
myself  in  the  evening  of  life,  but  others  who  had  acquired  sim- 
ilar habits  and  similar  tastes.  What  a  commentary  on  the  plans 
and  contrivances  of  poor  human  wisdom  !  Perhaps  a  death- 
bed will  be  needed,  to  teach  us  how  many  of  our  cares  and 
pains-takings  must  come  to  a  similar  result.'  " 

23.  From  the  Honorable  Walter  Lowrie,  Secretary  of  the 
United  States'  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"  I  have  received  your  circular,  in  relation  to  the  special  ben- 
efit to  be  derived  by  entire  abstinence  from  the  use,  as  a  bever- 
age, of  all  intoxicating  liquor. 

I  can  speak  from  the  personal  experience  of  more  than  five 
years  ;  and  without  going  into  detail,  I  will  merely  remark,  that 
that  experience  is  entirely  favorable  to  all  the  particulars  men- 
tioned in  your  circular ; — and  if  it  were  my  last  request,  to  my 
best  friend,  it  would  be,  abstain  entirely,  and  at  all  times,  from 
the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating  liquor." 

24.  From  Edward  C.  Delavan,  Esq.,  Chairman  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  New  York  State  Temperance  So- 
ciety, of  Albany,  IN.  Y. 

"  To  your  inquiry  relative  to  the  effects  on  my  health  of  the 
disuse  of  intoxicating  drinks — I  reply  briefly,  that  several  years 
have  now  elapsed  since  I  have  practiced  total  abstinence,  and 
during  that  time  my  health  has  regularly  improved.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  I  have  been  severely  afflicted  with  chronic, 


543]  NINTH  REPORT. — 1836.  29 

and  most  obstinate  constipation  of  the  bowels,  and,  at  times,  to  a 
degree  that  almost  deprived  me  of  comfort.  My  physician  as- 
sured me,  that,  from  original  temperament,  or  confirmed  habit,  or 
the  combined  influence  of  both,  he  had  no  expectation  that  I 
should  obtain  any  thing  more  than  temporary  relief  by  the  use  of 
medicine.  But  I  can  now  state,  and  1  do  it  with  sincere  grati- 
tude, that  since  I  have  abandoned  alcohol,  under  all  its  various 
disguises,  and  substituted  cold  water  as  my  only  beverage,  I  have 
been  gradually  and  constantly  improving  in  this  particular,  and 
that  I  have  now  scarcely  a  vestige  of  the  complaint  remaining. 
During  the  year  past,  1  have  sustained  greater  mental  effort, 
than  at  any  previous  period  of  my  life,  yet  my  health  has 
steadily  improved ;  and  I  recently  ascertained  that,  during  the 
same  time,  I  had  gained  in  weight  nine  pounds,  seven  more 
than  I  ever  weighed  before.  It  has  often  been  remarked,  (and 
as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends  it  is  true,  and  I  have  made 
many  inquiries  to  ascertain  the  fact,)  that  there  are  i'ew  indi- 
viduals, who  have  arrived  at  mature  age,  but  have  some  com- 
plaint, or  infirmity  ;  it  may  be  slight,  in  many  cases,  but  still 
the  defect  is  acknowledged.  Now  it  is  believed,  that  the  use 
of  intoxicating  drink,  even  in  moderation,  will  find  out,  not  to 
cure,  but  to  aggravate  and  increase  that  defect ;  and,  if  used 
and  persevered  in,  under  the  influence  of  the  fatal  error  that 
it  is  medicinal,  there  is  a  high  degree  of  probability  that  the 
overpowering  appetite  will  be  formed  which  nothing  can  satisfy, 
short  of  the  destruction  of  the  whole  moral,  as  well  as  physical 
health  of  the  victim. 

As  it  is  now  ascertained  that  three-fourths  of  all  the  crime 
and  pauperism  in  our  land  are  occasioned  by  intoxicating  drinks  ; 
it  is  my  honest  conviction,  that  the  same  proportion  of  the 
calls  of  physicians,  especially  in  cities,  are  from  the  same  cause. 
1  have  remarked  a  great  increase  of  healthfulness  in  many 
families,  that  had  abandoned  all  drinks  that  can  intoxicate,  and 
nearly  an  entire  absence  of  the  physician.  Suffice  it  to  sav, 
in  my  own  case,  the  improvement  of  health  I  have  experienced, 
by  total  abstinence,  has  amply  compensated  me  for  all  I  may 
have  done  to  advance  this  great  and  good  work  in  which  you, 
my  dear  sir,  are  so  laudably  and  successfully  engaged. 

A  principal  obstacle  in  the  way  of  convincing  persons  in  the 
moderate  use  of  wine  of  its  injurious  tendency  is,  that  they 
think  it  does  them  good,  that  they  would  suffer  by  giving  it  up. 
But  would  such  persons  only  make  the  experiment  of  entire 
abstinence  for  a  kw  months  faithfully,  till  the  system  should 
have  time  to  recover  its  natural,  and  healthful  action,  inde- 
pendent of  its  accustomed  stimulus,  and  till  the  appetite  pro- 
duced by  that  stimulus  had  subsided,  I  feel  assured  they  would, 
3* 


30  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [544 

almost  without  exception  feel,  and  candidly  acknowledge,  that 
they  had  been  greatly  mistaken  ;  and  that  their  individual  good, 
regardless  of  the  example  to  others,  imperiously  required  this 
self-denial. 

That  your  efforts  may  continue  to  be  blessed,  as  a  means  of 
inducing  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  abandon  the  use, 
as  a  beverage,  of  all  those  drinks  that  produce  intoxication,  and 
turn  to  the  full  fountains  of  pure  water  to  allay  their  thirst,  is  the 
constant  prayer  of  your  affectionate  friend." 

25.  From  the  Honorable  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  of  New- 
ark, New  Jersey,  late  United  States'  Senator. 

"  1  have  been  favored  with  your  circular,  requesting  the  results 
of  my  experience  in  the  matter  of  entire  abstinence  from  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquor — and  especially  as  to  its  effects  on 
health — on  bodily  and  mental  ability,  and  the  feelings  of  the 
mind.  I  can  from  personal  experience  bear  decided  testimony 
to  the  happiest  results,  in  all  these  particulars,  arising  from 
entire  abstinence.  For  the  last  nine  years  I  have  wholly 
abstained  from  ardent  spirits,  and  habitually  from  all  fermented 
liquors.  The  last  year,  which  has  been  the  period  in  which  I 
have  relinquished  even  the  occasional  use  of  wine,  I  have 
enjoyed  better  health,  than  in  either  of  the  nine.  And  it  is 
an  interesting  and  grateful  fact  to  me,  that  protracted  and  severe 
mental  efforts  can  now  be  borne  without  weariness — bodily 
exercise  and  labor  are  refreshing — and  the  mind  is  far  more 
cheerful,  composed  and  self-possessed,  than  in  the  days  of 
infatuation,  when  the  spirits  and  wine  cup,  met  us,  on  every 
sideboard,  and  assailed  us  at  every  table.'' 

26.  From  John  T.  Norton,  Esq.,  of  Farmington,  Con. 

"  I  was  in  the  habit,  until  about  eight  years  since,  of  using 
moderately,  all  sorts  of  intoxicating  drinks,  mostly,  however, 
cider,  strong  beer,  and  wine.  My  constitution  was  originally  an 
uncommonly  good  one  ;  but  about  twelve  years  since,  it  yielded, 
under  a  great  pressure  of  business,  exposure,  and  entire  igno- 
rance and  carelessness  in  regard  to  diet.  Subsequent  experience 
has  convinced  me  that  even  my  moderate  use  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  contributed  not  a  little  to  this  result.  Certain  I  am,  that 
these  drinks,  particularly  wine,  and  porter,  or  beer,  to  which  I 
resorted,  by  advice  of  friends  and  physicians,  in  order  to  build 
up  my  debilitated  system,  only  increased  the  evil,  and  I  became 
incapacitated  for  almost  all  bodily  and  mental  effort.  Traveling 
was  of  little  use  to  me,  because  I  thought  the  more  I  was  de- 
bilitated, the  more  I  required  nourishing  food  ;  and  I  believed 


545]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  31 

that  such  tonics  as  wine  and  strong  beer  were  indispensable  to 
enable  me  to  retain  the  little  strength  that  remained. 

Thus  I  continued  for  about  twelve  months,  without  any  mate- 
rial change,  when  I  consulted  an  eminent  physician,  in  Philadel- 
phia, who  said,  "  Your  mind  and  body  need  rest — go  home,  live 
on  bread  and  water,  until  the  tone  of  your  stomach  is  restored  ; 
avoid  anxiety,  and  exercise  moderately  every  day."  Had  he 
added,  "Drink  nothing  hit  cold  water  i/ie  rent  of  your  days" 
he  might  have  saved  me  much  bodily  suffering,  and  added  great- 
ly to  the  value  of  seven  or  eight  years  of  the  prime  of  my  life. 
I  returned  home,  and  obeyed  his  injunctions  almost  literally,  ab- 
staining entirely  from  animal  food,  and  drinking  nothing  stronger 
than  very  weak  tea.  In  six  weeks,  1  had  gained  Mesh  and 
strength  so  much  as  to  be  capable  of  attending  to  business  as 
usual,  and  felt  authorised  to  resume,  in  some  measure,  my  ordi- 
nary diet. 

1  fear  I  shall  be  too  minute,  and  will  only  say,  that  having 
learned  the  secret  of  resorting  to  hi  cad  and  water,  when  nature 
would  no  longer  bear  to  be  abused,  I  regained,  and  was  enabled 
to  preserve,  a  tolerable  degree  of  health  ;  but  1  considered  my 
fine  constitution  as  materially  impaired,  and  had  no  expectation 
of  again  enjoying  perfect  health. 

About  eight  years  since,  I  signed  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence 
from  distilled  spirits — strong  beer  I  had  already  learned  was  in- 
jurious to  me,  and  seldom  used  it.  In  a  year  or  two  more,  I 
came  to  the  same  conclusion  in  relation  to  cider.  Still  1  was 
under  the  delusion,  that  fermented  drinks  were  useful  in  general, 
and  only  injurious  to  me,  owing  to  my  impaired  constitution.  I 
continued  to  use  wine  occasionally  at  dinner,  in  company,  and 
when  fatigued — indeed,  a  day  seldom  passed,  that  I  did  not 
drink  one  or  two  glasses,  taking  particular  care  to  procure  the 
choicest  kinds  of  ]\ladeira,  port,  pure  juice,  &ic. 

About  four  years  since,  1  became  satisfied  that  it  was  all  bad 
for  me,  and  since  that  time,  with  perhaps  half  a  dozen  excep- 
tions the  first  two  years,  I  have  totally  abstained ;  and  I  can  truly 
say,  on  reviewing  my  whole  progress,  that  in  proportion  as  I  got 
rid  of  alcohol,  I  got  rid  of  disease;  and  during  no  part  of  my 
life,  not  even  before  my  constitution  began  to  fail,  have  I  enjoyed 
such  uniform  health  of  body  and  mind,  as  during  the  last  two 
years. 

In  relation  to  bodily  powers,  I  am  as  capable  of  great  and 
long  continued  efforts,  as  at  any  period  of  my  life ;  and  in- 
deed I  suffer  less  from  exposure,  seldom  having  more  than 
the  incipient  symptoms  of  a  cold,  and  recover  immediately  from 
fatigue. 


32  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [546 

As  to  mental  efforts — my  pursuits  have  not  led  me  to  severe 
exercises  of  this  nature,  yet  I  am  conscious  that  my  mind  is  much 
more  clear  and  capable  of  effort  than  formerly. 

My  own  experience,  as  also  my  observation  of  others,  con- 
vinces me  that  intoxicating  drink  is  an  enemy  to  true  cheerful- 
ness, kindness,  and  uniformity.  I  would  not,  for  a  moment,  be 
understood  to  mean,  that  any  thing  but  the  grace  of  God,  and  a 
sense  of  pardoned  sin,  can  give  true  cheerfulness  and  peace  of 
mind ;  but  I  fully  believe,  that  intoxicating  drink  has  been  a 
great  disturber  of  the  Christian's  cheerfulness,  and  has  often 
curdled  the  warm  current  of  kindness  and  love,  that  should 
ever  flow  from  a  Christian's  heart. 

My  opportunities  for  observation,  have  been  rather  better  than 
ordinary,  having  been  engaged  for  twenty-four  years,  in  New 
York  and  Albany,  in  extensive  mercantile  and  other  business, 
and  having  for  eight  years,  been  much  interested  in  the  temper- 
ance cause,  and  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
New  York  State  Temperance  Society,  since  its  first  formation ; 
and  having  had  many  other  advantages,  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  enumerate.  I  will,  therefore,  as  briefly  as  possible,  give 
something  more  of  the  fruits  of  my  experience  and  observa- 
tion ;  and  could,  1  believe,  establish  all  my  positions  by  facts, 
illustrations,  and  arguments,  did  the  limits  of  such  a  communica- 
tion allow  me. 

1.  Intoxicating  drinks,  of  every  description,  are  always  hurt- 
fid  to  every  individual  who  uses  them,  as  a  beverage.  1  know 
they  were  so  to  myself — hundreds  of  my  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances, who  now  experience  the  benefits  of  abstinence,  have  told 
me  that  they  were  always  injurious  to  them — and  I  have  now  in 
my  mind's  eye,  a  large  number  of  individuals,  many  of  whom  I 
greatly  love  and  esteem,  who  continue  to  use  intoxicating  drinks 
temperately,  and  who  are  affected,  in  different  degrees  to  be 
sure,  but  in  the  same  general  manner,  as  I  myself  was ;  and  as 
all  others,  ivho  are  now  free,  acknowledge  themselves  to  have 
been  affected.  I  have  watched  closely  the  effects  of  intoxicating 
drinks,  when  used  the  most  temperately,  in  all  classes  of  society ; 
the  rich  and  the  poor ;  the  most  exalted  in  rank,  intellect,  re- 
finement, and  morals,  as  well  as  the  more  humble ;  the  merchant 
and  the  mechanic — the  employer  and  the  laborer.  Whatever 
they  drink  of  this  nature,  whether  cider,  beer,  wine,  or  brandy, 
the  same  general  effects  are  visible.  Alcohol  is  written  legibly 
upon  all  who  drink  it. 

2.  The  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  lessens  the  benefit  of  tak- 
ing nourishing  food.  I  am  well  acquainted  with  laboring  peo- 
ple, both  mechanics  and  farmers,  who  formerly  used  cider  and 
beer  temperately,  but  who  now  abstain,  and  who  say,  they  enjoy 


547]  NINTH   REPORT. — 1836.  33 

what  they  eat  better,   have  better  health,  better  temper,  better 
spirits,  than  formerly,  and  experience  less  fatigue  from  labor. 

3.  A  moderate  use  of  intoxicating  drinks,  tends  to  make  men 
of  refined  and  intellectual  character,  and  Christians  too,  as  well 
as  men  of  a  different  character,  impatient  of  control,  restraint,  or 
opposition,  uncharitable,  and,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  to  im- 
pair their  intellectual  and  moral  perceptions.  I  mean  that  these 
dispositions  are  indulged,  and  are  more  manifest  in  those  who 
use  these  drinks,  than  they  would  be  if  they  abstained  from 
them. 

4.  Intoxicating  drinks,  especially  cider,  beer,  and  wine,  are 
exceedingly  dangerous  to  youth,  and  should  be  avoided  by  them, 
as  they  would  avoid  a  deadly  serpent.  When  1  was  not  more 
than  twelve  years  of  age,  and  subsequently,  during  a  clerkship 
in  New  York  and  Albany,  it  was  common  for  me,  and  also  for 
my  companions,  to  drink  strong  beer  and  wine.  Cider  and 
strong  beer  were  daily  furnished  at  our  homes  and  boarding 
houses.  On  recalling  the  names  of  the  companions  of  my  youth, 
more  than  half  have  gone  down  to  premature  and  dishonored 
graves — of  the  remainder,  full  half  live  dishonored  lives.  The 
few  that  have  been  spared  to  any  degree  of  honor  and  useful- 
ness, have  reason  to  bless  God,  who  interposed  for  them,  for  they 
were  equally  exposed. 

5.  Parents  and  employers,  who  use  intoxicating  drinks  tem- 
perately, contribute  to  sow  the  seeds  of  intemperance,  and  to 
form  a  taste  for  alcoholic  stimulants  in  their  children,  and  the 
youth  under  their  care ;  and,  I  fear,  in  the  great  day  of  retribu- 
tion, many  a  youth,  whose  hopes  for  this  life  and  another  have 
been  destroyed  by  alcohol,  will  remind  his  parent,  or  employer, 
that  he  first  put  the  cup  to  his  lips. 

6.  Cider,  strong  beer,  and  wine,  are  at  the  bottom,  they  are 
the  foundation  of  intemperate  drinking.  In  the  country,  particu- 
larly in  New  England,  cider,  rather  than  water,  has  been  the 
common  beverage.  Until  within  a  few  years,  I  believe  I  may 
safely  say,  in  a  majority  of  the  families  of  New  England,  the 
water  pitcher  was  never  placed  upon  the  dinner  table  ;  and  I 
may  add,  the  mug  of  cider  had  its  place,  on  a  majority  of  the 
tea  and  breakfast  tables.  A  love  for  stimulating  drinks  was  thus 
formed,  and  a  supposed  necessity  for  such  drinks  with  food,  was 
thus  created,  in  youth,  and  almost  in  infancy.  What  wonder 
then,  that  drunkenness  has  so  lamentably  prevailed,  even  in  fa- 
vored New  England  ?  What  wonder,  that  her  sons,  as  they 
emigrated  to  other  regions,  where  their  favorite  cider  could  not 
be  obtained,  should  substitute  beer,  and  wine,  and  brandy  ?  In 
cities,  and  indeed  in  many  families  in  the  country,  children  have 
been  regularly  taught,  both  by  precept  and  example,  to  drink 


34  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [548 

wine,  to  hear  its  praises,  and  to  discuss  its  qualities.  I  have  my- 
self given  it  to  my  children  of  four  and  six  years  old,  and 
taught  them  to  drink  healths,  when  they  could  scarcely  lisp 
the  word.  Those  who  could  not  afford  wine,  yielding  to 
fashion,  and  to  supposed  necessity,  and  to  gratify  their  early  form- 
ed tastes,  have  resorted  to  beer,  or  to  stronger  drinks.  Many 
lessons  are  given,  it  is  true,  to  young  children,  even  in  the 
nursery,  with  a  piece  of  sugar  immersed  in  gin,  or  brandy; 
but  the  great  school  of  intemperance,  has  been  taught  under 
the  auspices  of  cider,  beer,  and  wine  ;  those  drinks,  which  the 
good  and  the  wise  have  heretofore  thought  harmless,  and  in- 
deed useful. 

I  fear  I  have  already  said  more  than  was  expected  from 
any  one  individual,  and  that  I  have  not  confined  myself  strict- 
ly to  the  objects  you  had  in  view.  With  many  wishes  and 
prayers,  for  the  success  of  the  cause  which  you  have,  under 
God,  been  so  instrumental  in  promoting,  I  am  yours,  with  sin- 
cere respect  and  esteem." 

27.     From  the  Rev.  Orin  Fowler,  of  Fall  River,  Mass. 

"  In  reply  to  yours,  recently  received,  I  can  say,  that  I  have 
abstained  for  a  number  of  years,  from  all  ordinary  use  of  all 
intoxicating  drinks,  (which  I  never  took  largely,)  water  having 
been,  for  a  long  time,  my  only  drink.  My  health  is  perfectly 
sound  and  has  been  so  for  twenty  years,  in  which  time  T  have 
had  but  few  pains  and  aches,  except  during  a  short  sickness 
some  ten  years  since ;  and  I  feel  as  youthful  and  vigorous 
(I  am  forty-four)  as  when  I  was  twenty-four.  I  have,  for 
years,  and  at  all  seasons,  preached,  uniformly,  three,  jrequently 
four,  sermons  on  the  Sabbath,  and  several  others  during  the 
week;  besides  making  more  than  one  thousand  pastoral  visits, 
annually,  and  attending  to  much  other  labor,  bodily  and  men- 
tal ;  and  believe  that  upon  my  water  drinking,  regular  diet, 
and  early  rising  system,  with  the  divine  blessing,  I  may  hope 
to  be  young,  vigorous,  healthy,  for  many  years  yet  to  come. 

If  I  could  reach  every  ear  in  the  nation,  and  especially  of 
every  minister,  and  every  student,  I  would  say,  drink  nothing 
but  water — no  ardent  spirits — no  intoxicating  liquor — take  no 
tobacco  in  any  form — retire  to  bed  at  half-past  nine  and  rise  at 
four,  the  year  round — be  regular  in  your  diet,  (always  exer- 
cising half  an  hour  before  eating)  and  you  may  expect  sound 
health — capability  for  great  and  continual  efforts  of  body  and 
mind,  together  with  cheerfulness,  uniformity,  and  elasticity. 
Such  is  my  practice — such  is  my  experience. 


549]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  35 

28.  From  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor  of 
Ecclesiastical  History  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton, 
New  Jersey. 

"  Your  communication  of  November  17th  reached  me  on  the 
25th,  and  would  have  been  acknowledged  before,  had  not  en- 
gagements, of  the  most  urgent  kind,  deprived  me  of  the  requi- 
site leisure.  It  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure  to  comply  with 
your  request  in  regard  to  the  use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  be- 
cause I  verily  believe  that  the  well-being  of  society,  and  espe- 
cially the  best  interest  of  the  rising  generation,  must  be  con- 
sidered as  deeply  involved  in  the  banishment  of  such  drinks 
from  habitual  use.  You  request  a  statement  of  my  own  expe- 
perience  in  reference  to  this  matter. 

I  was  never  in  the  habit  of  using  ardent  spirits  ;  and,  during 
the  earlier  period  of  my  life,  seldom  drank  wine.  Yet  my  ab- 
stinence from  it,  prior  to  the  forty-third  year  of  my  age,  cannot 
be  said  to  have  been  either  systematical  or  rigid.  In  that  year  I 
had  a  severe  fit  of  illness,  in  recovering  from  which,  the  use  of 
some  sound  old  wine  which  was,  providentially,  within  my  reach, 
wTas  so  strikingly  beneficial,  that  my  physician  advised  me  to 
continue  it  after  my  recovery  ;  and,  indeed,  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  I  ought  to  take,  at  least,  one  glass,  if  not  two,  of  good 
wine  daily,  to  the  end  of  life.  I  followed  his  advice  for  more 
than  sixteen  years ;  I  very  seldom  drank  more  than  one  glass, 
and  never  more  than  two  glasses.  In  this  moderate  use,  I  was 
almost  invariably  regular  ;  and  great  were  the  pains  to  which  1 
submitted,  from  time  to  time,  for  obtaining  wine  of  pure  and 
indubitable  qualities,  not  as  a  matter  of  luxury,  but  of  health. 

During  all  this  time  my  health,  though  not  bad,  was  delicate i 
and  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteen  years  just  mentioned, 
there  was  every  appearance  that  my  constitution  was  giving 
way,  and  that  a  premature  and  feeble  old  age  was  creeping 
upon  me.  Still  I  had  no  suspicions  that  wine  was  hurting  me, 
and  only  supposed  that,  in  spite  of  its  benefits,  my  sedentary 
habits  were  undermining  my  strength. 

More  than  six  years  ago,  when  I  was  approaching  my  sixti- 
eth year,  hearing  so  much  said  about  the  mischiefs  of  stimulat- 
ing drinks,  and  entering,  as  I  did,  with  cordial  zeal,  into  the 
temperance  reformation,  I  determined  to  go  beyond  those 
around  me,  and  to  abstain  not  merely  from  ardent  spirits,  but 
make  the  experiment,  for  "at  least  three  months,  what  would  be 
the  effect  of  an  immediate  and  entire  abstinence  from  wine, 
and  all  intoxicating  beverage.  Accordingly  I  broke  off  at  once 
and  from  that  day  to  this,  have  not  tasted  wine,  excepting  at 
the  sacramental  table.  I  have  also  abstained,  during  the  same 
time,  from  cider,  beer,  and  every  species  of  drink  stronger  than 


36  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [550 

water,  and  never  set  any  of  them  on  my  table,  unless  they  are 
called  for  by  peculiar  circumstances.  The  experiment  had  not 
proceeded  more  than  a  single  month,  before  I  became  satisfied 
that  my  abstinence  was  not  only  distinctly,  but  very  strikingly 
beneficial.  I  was  so  far  from  suffering  any  injury  from  the  ab- 
straction of  my  accustomed  stimulus,  that  the  effect  was  all  the 
other  way.  My  appetite  was  more  uniform  and  healthful ;  my 
digestion  decidedly  improved ;  my  strength  increased ;  my 
sleep  more  comfortable  ;  and  all  my  mental  exercises  more 
clear,  pleasant,  and  successful.  Instead  of  awakening  in  the 
morning  writh  parched  lips,  and  with  a  sense  of  feverish  heat, 
such  feelings  were  almost  entirely  banished  ;  and  instead  of  that 
nervous  irritability  which,  during  my  indulgence  in  wine,  was 
seldom  wholly  absent,  I  am  now  favored  with  a  state  of  feeling, 
in  this  respect,  very  greatly  improved.  In  short,  my  experi- 
ence precluded  all  doubt,  that  the  entire  disuse  of  all  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  has  been  connected,  in  my  case,  with  benefits  of  the 
most  signal  kind ;  with  much  firmer  health  than  I  enjoyed 
twenty  years  ago;  with  more  cheerful  feelings;  with  greater 
alacrity  of  mind  ;  and  with  a  very  sensible  increase  of  my  capa- 
city for  labor  of  every  kind.  I  can  never  cease  to  be  grateful 
that  I  was  led  to  make  this  experiment;  and  think  it  is  highly 
probable  that  if  I  had  not  adopted  this  course,  I  should  not  now 
have  been  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

I  have  had  occasion  frequently  to  observe  that  some  who, 
like  myself,  drink  nothing  but  water,  are  very  liberal  in  their 
use  of  that  element.  They  drink  it  often  and  largely,  and  es- 
pecially make  a  very  free  use  of  it  at  dinner.  This  was  once 
my  own  habit ;  but  I  became  fully  convinced  that  it  was  not 
salutary,  at  least  to  me.  The  truth  is,  since  I  have  left  off  the 
use  of  all  intoxicating  drinks,  I  seldom  experience  the  sensation 
of  thirst.  Often  I  do  not  touch  a  particle  of  any  kind  of  drink 
at  dinner,  and  even  when  I  am  overtaken  with  thirst,  I  find 
that,  in  my  case,  it  is  better  slaked  with  a  few  tea-spoons  full 
of  water,  taken  slowly,  and  at  several  swallows,  than  by  a 
whole  tumbler  full,  or  double  that  quantity,  as  many  are  accus- 
tomed to  take — I  am  very  confident  that  we  may  take  too  much, 
even  of  water ;  and  that  deluging  the  stomach  even  with  the 
most  innocent  fluid,  tends  to  interfere  with  perfect  digestion. 

I  feel  a  deep  interest,  my  clear  sir,  in  the  reception  and  pre- 
valence of  these  opinions.  It  would  .be  well  for  the  church  and 
the  world,  if  our  present  race  of  young  men,  especially  those 
in  our  seminaries  and  colleges,  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  enter 
into  the  spirit  and  practice  of  this  doctrine.  How  many  brok- 
en constitutions ;  how  many  cases  of  miserable  nervous  debili- 
ty >    how    many   degraded  characters  ;    how  many  melancholy 


551]  NINTH  REPORT. — 1836.  37 

wrecks  of  domestic  peace,  and  of  official  usefulness,  would  be 
spared,  if  we  could  make  our  beloved  young  men  believe  us, 
when  we  speak  thus !  May  the  Lord  enlighten  and  counsel 
them  in  his  time  !  " 

29.  From  William  A.  Alcott,  M.  D.,  of  Boston,  Mass., 
author  of  the  Young  Man's  Guide,  and  editor  of  the  Moral 
Reformer,  Parley's  Magazine,  he.  &c. 

"  I  was  early  accustomed  to  the  use  of  cider,  in  large  quanti- 
ties. Occasionally,  too,  I  diank  distilled  liquors;  almost  always, 
however,  from  the  earliest  years,  with  strong  doubts  of  their 
utility.  The  utility,  and  even  necessity  of  cider,  for  many 
years,  at  least,  1  never  doubted.  But  water — pure  cold  water — 
I  never  drank  in  early  life,  except  to  cool  myself.  From  the 
age  of  25  to  30  I  began  to  doubt  still  more  strongly,  the  good 
effects  of  distilled  spirit.  I  seldom  drank  it  except  when 
exposed  in  an  unusual  degree,  to  cold  or  wet.  At  about  28 
years  of  age,  I  began  to  abstain  entirely,  from  ardent  spirit, 
and  soon  after  from  cider.  At  32  I  abandoned  all  fermented 
drinks. 

Before  I  discontinued  the  use  of  narcotic,  and  intoxicating 
drinks,  I  was  threatened  with  consumption ;  this  tendency  still 
remains,  but  is  every  year  diminishing.  My  general  health 
has  greatly  improved.  I  think  my  constitution,  of  both  mind 
and  body,  more  juvenile  than  six  years  ago.  For  six  years 
past,  all  my  senses,  except  hearing,  have  improved  greatly; 
but  my  hearing  remains  the  same.  My  taste,  and  my  sight, 
are  remarkable.  As  to  taste,  water,  formerly  so  insipid, 
has  now  a  surprising  sweetness.  I  must  add,  in  closing,  that 
many  circumstances  in  which  1  have  been  placed,  during  the 
last  six  years,  have  been  far  less  favorable  to  health  than  for- 
merly. 1  was  bred  to  the  farm,  till  twenty-four  years  of  age, 
and  accustomed  to  much  exercise  in  the  open  air.  Since  then, 
I  have,  at  times  greatly  neglected  air  and  exercise ;  yet  I  have 
performed  excessive  labors;  enough,  frequently,  for  two  ordinary 
men.  I  have  studied  much  by  night,  or  rather  morning,  for  I 
rise  at  three  or  four  o'clock,  all  the  year  round.  I  have  lost 
nothing  by  my  temperance,  but  have  gained  immensely ;  a  spe- 
cies of  property,  too,  which  worlds  of  extraordinary  stimulants 
would  not  now  induce  me  to  part  with." 

30.     From  Charles  A.  Lee,  M.  D.,  of  New  York. 

"  I  have    the    pleasure  of  acknowledging    the    receipt  of   a 
circular,  issued  by  the  Amer'can  Temperance  Society,  request- 
ing answers    to    certain    questions    therein  proposed.     I  cheer- 
4 


38  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [552 

fully  comply  with  this  request ;  as  I  am  satisfied,  if  the  expe- 
rience of  those  who  have  tried  the  plan  of  total  abstinence  from 
alcoholic  drinks,  for  a  few  years  past,  in  our  country,  were  fairly 
spread  before  the  public,  it  would  furnish  such  a  mass  of  testi- 
mony in  favor  of  the  system,  that  the  most  sceptical  would  be 
induced  to  give  it  a  trial.  It  seems  indeed  very  singular,  that 
mankind  should  ever  have  adopted  the  opinion,  that  such  an  un- 
natural stimulus  as  alcohol  was  necessary  to  man  ;  or  that  it  could 
be  used,  without  such  a  violation  and  derangement  of  the  organic 
laws  of  life,  as  to  be  totally  incompatible  with  a  state  of  health. 
And  it  appears  no  less  strange,  that  it  should  be  necessary  to  em- 
ploy arguments,  derived  from  statistical  facts  and  personal  expe- 
rience, to  prove  the  inestimable  benefits  which  flow  from  a  strict 
course  of  temperance.  But  so  it  is;  and  this  belief,  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  is  to  be  ranked  anions  those  popular  errors,  or  de- 
lusions, which,  in  different  ages,  and  in  all  countries,  have  more 
or  less  extensively  prevailed. 

When  the  temperance  reformation  began,  in  1826,  it  found 
me,  as  it  did  a  large  majority  of  my  fellow  citizens,  addicted  to 
the  moderate  use,  so  called,  of  alcoholic  liquors.  I  took  brandy 
with  my  dinner,  not  only  as  a  corrective  of  the  bad  qualities  of 
our  water,  but  principally  to  aid  digestion  ;  and  fermented  drinks, 
in  conformity  to  the  hospitable  laws  and  regrdations  of  society, 
and  also  to  furnish  strength  and  support  under  fatigue,  and  those 
other  numerous  circumstances,  which  were  then  supposed  to  jus- 
tify, and  even  require  their  use.  It  is  true,  I  had  many  misgiv- 
ings, as  to  their  utility,  but  I  had  never  duly  considered  the  in- 
fluence, which  my  habits  might  have  upon  my  physical  and  in- 
tellectual well-beings— 1  had  never  properly  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  this  study,  so  much  neglected,  and  yet  so  essential  to 
our  welfare,  as  well  as  the  progress  and  ultimate  triumph  of  tem- 
perance principles.  I  had  then  been  laboring  under  confirmed 
dyspepsia,  since  the  second  year  of  my  college  life,  1819,  and 
had  experienced  a  full  proportion  of  the  nameless  bodily  and 
mental  horrors  of  that  protean  disease.  My  lungs  were  so  weak, 
that  I  could  with  difficulty  speak  aloud  ;  my  nervous  system  was 
deranged  and  shattered,  and  my  general  strength  so  reduced, 
that  slight  exertion  caused  much  fatigue.  I  was  constantly 
troubled  with  head-ache,  and  depiession  of  spirits,  and  an  inca- 
pacity for  mental  effort.  My  other  symptoms  I  need  not  particu- 
larize, as  they  were  such  as  are  generally  found  connected  with 
this  complaint. 

As  soon  as  my  attention  was  particularly  directed  to  the  ef- 
fects of  ardent  spirits,  which  was  in  the  year  1827,  I  formed  the 
resolution  of  abstaining  from  their  use.  I  acknowledge,  it  was 
no  sacrifice  to  do  it,  as  I  never  had  used  them  but  in  a  moderate 


553]  NINTH   REPORT. — 1836.  39 

manner,  and  as,  moreover,  I  reserved  the  privilege  of  drinking 
wine,  beer,  and  cider,  under  the  conviction  that  they  were  inno- 
cent, and  at  times,  even  necessary.  A  careful  observation  of 
their  effects,  however,  soon  satisfied  me,  as  in  the  case  of  distilled 
spirit,  that  I  invariably  was  injured  by  their  use,  and  I  therefore 
gradually  came  on  to  the  plan,  which  ought  to  have  been  adopt- 
ed at  first;  viz.  total  abstinence.  I  have  thus  tried  alcohol  in 
most  of  the  forms  in  which  it  is  used,  and  under  the  circum- 
stances in  which  it  has  been  supposed  to  be  innocent,  if  not  use- 
ful, and  I  can  conscientiously  say,  that,  /  have  never  received 
any  benefit  from  it.  As  a  restorative,  in  case  of  fatigue,  it  was 
truly  "a  mocker ;"  appearing  for  a  short  time  to  give  strength, 
but  always  inducing  greater  lassitude  and  debility,  when  its  first 
effect  had  subsided,  and  placing  the  system  in  that  condition,  in 
which  it  could  not  sustain  extra  exertion,  without  great  exhaus- 
tion. After  abandoning  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,  I  found  my 
general  health  improved ;  my  dyspepsia  vanished ;  my  hypo- 
chondria and  head-ache  disappeared  ;  and  my  strength  much  in- 
creased. I  could  not  doubt  that  this  beneficial  change  was 
owing  to  my  abstaining  from  these  stimulants,  for  my  habits,  with 
respect  to  exercise,  diet,  &c,  were  the  same  as  before.  I  was 
also  enabled  to  apply  myself  to  study,  with  pleasure  and  without 
head-ache,  which  I  have  scarcely  been  able  to  do  for  several 
years.  When  fatigued,  which  is  very  seldom,  I  find  a  glass 
of  water,  or  milk  and  water,  or  lemonade,  a  much  better 
cordial,  than  any  kind  of  intoxicating  liquor  ever  was.  I  can 
also  bear  heat  or  cold  better  than  formerly,  and  am  not  liable  to 
get  sick  from  exposure,  or  over-exertion.  While  under  the  old 
regime,  I  had  frequent  attacks  of  illness,  and  some  of  a  serious 
nature ;  but  since  I  have  adopted  my  present  course,  I  have  not 
found  occasion  to  take  a  particle  of  medicine,  nor  have  I  been 
confined  to  my  bed  a  single  day.  And  why  should  we  not  ex- 
pect such  beneficial  results  to  flow  from  abstaining  from  even  the 
moderate  use  of  poison  ?  It  is  now  proved,  by  the  experiments 
of  Magendie,  and  other  physiologists,  that  if  alcohol  be  introduc- 
ed into  the  stomach,  in  any  quantity,  it  goes  directly,  unchanged, 
into  the  blood,  and  unassimilated,  is  carried  to  every  organ  and 
every  fibre  in  the  system.  The  unnatural  excitement  thus  occa- 
sioned tends  to  weaken  and  derange,  and  not  to  strengthen  or 
nourish  ;  and  if  taken  in  combination  with  nutritious  substances, 
it  goes  far  to  neutralize  their  otherwise  valuable  properties.  My 
own  experience,  therefore,  as  well  as  observation,  fully  satisfies 
me,  that  the  moderate  use,  so  called,  of  alcoholic  drinks,  tends 
directly  to  debilitate  the  digestive  organs  ;  to  cloud  the  under- 
standing, weaken  the  memory,  unfix  the  attention,  and  confuse 
ail  the  mental  operations  ;  besides  inducing  a  host  of  nervous 


40  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [554 

maladies.  The  mode  of  reasoning  usually  adopted,  of  compar- 
ing alcohol  with  food,  and  then  showing  that,  as  the  moderate  use 
of  the  latter  is  necessary  and  useful,  so  also  it  must  be  with  the 
former,  is  perfectly  delusive  and  fallacious  ;  for,  as  alcohol  con- 
tains no  nutriment,  and  cannot  be  assimilated,  it  is  absurd  to  in- 
stitute such  a  comparison.  The  fact  is,  there  is  no  analogy 
whatever,  between  the  two  substances.  Alcohol  may  and  does 
stimulate  the  nervous  system,  and  thus  excite  to  extraordinary 
efforts  ;  but  it  can  give  no  real  strength  ;  it  can  create  no  phyi- 
cal  power;  but  like  the  action  of  the  galvanic  or  electric  fluid,  it 
rouses  the  excitability,  while  at  the  same  time  it  exhausts  it. 

Literary  and  professional  men  have  labored  under  a  deep  delu- 
sion on  this  point.  While  much  excuse  is  to  be  found  in  the 
exhausting  nature  of  their  pursuits,  and  other  temptations,  to 
which  they  are  peculiarly  exposed,  there  would  seem  at  present 
but  slight  apology  for  persisting  in  a  habit,  which,  according  to 
the  recorded  experience  of  thousands,  is  fruitful  in  evils.  They 
will  not  claim,  that  they  give  either  vigor  or  clearness  to  mental 
operations  ;  that  they  communicate  nourishment  to  the  body  ;  or 
that  they  are  absolutely  necessary,  under  any  of  the  ordinary 
circumstances  of  life.  Why  then  should  they  not  be  given  up  ? 
My  judgment  fully  approves  the  correctness  of  the  following  re- 
marks of  Dr.  Trotter.  '  My  whole  experience  assures  me  that 
wine  is  no  friend  to  vigor  or  activity  of  mind.  It  whirls  the 
fancy  beyond  the  judgment,  and  leaves  the  body  and  soul  in  a 
state  of  listless  indolence  and  sloth.  The  man,  that  on  arduous 
occasions  is  to  trust  to  his  own  judgment,  must  preserve  an  equi- 
librium of  mind,  alike  proof  against  contingencies,  as  internal 
passions.  He  must  be  prompt  in  his  decisions  ;  bold  in  enter- 
prise ;  fruitful  in  resources  ;  patient  under  expectation  ;  not  elat- 
ed with  success  ;  or  depressed  with  disappointment.  But  if  his 
spirits  are  of  that  standard,  as  to  need  a  filip  from  wine,  he  will 
never  conceive  or  execute  any  thing  magnanimous  or  grand.  In 
a  survey  of  my  whole  acquaintance  and  friends,  I  find  that  water 
drinkers  possess  the  most  equal  tempers,  and  cheerful  dispo- 
sitions.' 

As  a  physician,  I  have  been  led  to  believe,  from  pretty  exten- 
sive observation,  that  the  premature  exhaustion  induced  by  the 
moderate  use  of  alcoholic  drinks,  is  one  of  the  chief  causes  of 
the  frequent  failure  of  health,  and  serious  attacks  of  disease, 
which  literary  and  professional  men  so  often  experience.  An 
intimate  friend  of  mine,  unaccustomed  to  the  habitual  use  of  fer- 
mented liquors,  was  induced  to  take  a  single  glass  of  wine  after 
dinner,  for  several  weeks  in  succession.  He  was  at  length  at- 
tacked with  severe  erysipelatous  inflammation  of  the  face  and 
head,  which  required  very  free  depletion  to  subdue.    He  dropped 


555]  NINTH    REPORT. 1836.  41 

the  use  of  wine,  and  has  never  had  a  similar  attack.  He  has 
no  doubt  that  the  disease  was  occasioned  by  the  wine,  acting  as 
a  predisposing  cause  ;  in  which  opinion  I  coincided.  1  could  re- 
late a  great  number  of  cases,  where  there  could  be  no  question, 
that  ill  health  was  induced  and  continued,  by  what  is  generally 
termed  the  moderate  use  of  alcoholic  liquors,  though  the  individ- 
uals themselves  were  perfectly  unconscious  of  it,  and  probably 
would  not  have  thanked  a  physician  for  making  such  a  sug- 
gestion. But  a  change  in  their  habits,  and  a  corresponding 
change  in  their  health  and  feelings,  have  convinced  them,  that 
such  was  the  fact.  I  might  here  quote  resolutions,  passed  unani- 
mously by  various  medical  societies  in  our  country;  and  then  add 
the  weighty  authorities  of  Cheyne,  Trotter,  Beddoes,  Hoffman, 
Abercrombie,  Astley  Cooper,  James  Johnson,  Rush,  Hosack, 
and  a  host  of  other  physicians  of  the  first  respectability,  to  prove, 
that  in  physical  strength  ;  in  the  capability  of  enduring  labor 
and  fatigue ;  and  in  the  vigor  and  clearness  of  the  intellectual 
powers,  water  drinkers  far  exceed  those  who  substitute  for  the 
pure  element,  distilled  or  fermented  liquors.  But  if  there  should 
still  remain  a  doubt  in  the  minds  of  any,  I  see  no  possible  way 
of  removing  it,  but  by  putting  the  matter  to  the  test  of  experi- 
ment. If  a  fair  trial  does  not  satisfy  the  individual,  that  total 
abstinence  is  far  preferable  to  moderate  use,  then  it  will  be  the 
first  instance  which  I  have  ever  known,  where  such  a  result  has 
not  followed." 

31.     From  the  Honorable  Judge  Hall,  of  Wilmington,  Del. 

i:  In  1803,  in  my  twenty-third  year,  I  removed  from  Massachu- 
setts, and  settled  in  a  part  of  Delaware,  reputed  unhealthy,  and 
especially  trying  to  the  constitution  of  strangers.  The  preserva- 
tion of  my  health  became  my  anxious  concern.  This  circum- 
stance has  perhaps  been  the  occasion  of  imparting  some  accuracy 
and  discrimination  to  my  experience  upon  the  subject  of  my 
health. 

I  was  advised  by  physicians  of  the  first  standing,  to  use  tem- 
perately spiritnus  liquor,  diluted  with  water.  Under  this  advice, 
I  commenced  this  use,  and  made  it  a  habit.  After  I  had  been 
in  this  habit  many  years,  under  a  conviction  that  it  was  necessary 
to  my  health,  about  the  year  1820,  I  noticed  the  article  Medi- 
cine, in  the  Edingburgh  Encyclopedia.  I  was  startled  by  this 
passage  of  it. 

'With  respect  to  the  stronger  wines,'  (Madeira,  Port,  Sher- 
ry, Lisbon,  Sicily,  Teneriffe,  fyc),  '  we  conceive  that  their 
habitual  use  is  never  necessary,  and  is  generally  hurtful — still 
less  is  the  employment  of  distilled  spirits  to  be  allowed  as  an  ar-* 

4* 


42  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [556 

ticle  of  diet.  Their  action  upon  the  stomach,  and  viscera,  is 
decidedly  injurious  ;  while  their  effect  upon  the  system  in  gen- 
eral is  most  unfavorable,  and  of  a  nature  which  tends  to  under- 
mine all  the  powers,  mental  and  corporeal.' 

At  this  time  the  temperance  reformation  had  not  begun.  The 
writer  of  this  article,  in  this  passage,  had  in  view  simply  the  ac- 
tion of  a  matter  of  diet  upon  the  human  system.  The  article 
evinced  him  to  be  master  of  his  subject ;  practical  as  well  as 
learned.  His  opinion  was  obviously  formed  with  care;  not  a 
speculative  suggestion,  but  the  instruction  of  enlightened  investi- 
gation. It  taught  me,  that  what  I  was  daily  using,  and  believed 
myself  under  necessity  to  continue  to  use,  acted  with  decided  in- 
jury upon  the  stomach  and  viscera,  the  very  seat  of  health  and 
life,  and  with  baneful  effect  upon  the  mental  powers,  the  impair- 
ing of  which  is  justly  ranked  as  the  most  dreadful  and  alarming 
of  the  evils  of  our  present  state.  Such,  however,  was  the  ef- 
fect upon  my  mind  of  prejudice,  arising  from  the  habit  I  had 
contracted  by  medical  advice,  that  for  several  years  I  remained 
under  the  conviction,  that  the  use  I  made  of  spirituous  liquor, 
was  beneficial,  indeed  necessary,  to  my  health.  I  supposed, 
that  this  use  was  peculiarly  suited  to  my  constitution  ;  that  I 
needed  it,  and  was  not  liable  to  the  same  detriment  that  would 
result  to  more  robust  frames  and  sanguine  temperaments.  But  I 
was  led  into  a  course  of  inquiry,  observation,  and  experiment  ; 
and  at  last,  in  the  beginning  of  May  1827,  I  abandoned  the  use 
of  spiritous  liquor.  During  this  time,  I  had  made  trial  of  porter, 
ale,  and  strong  beer ;  and  I  had  been  convinced,  that  these 
liquors  were  injurious  to  me.  On  abandoning  the  use  of  spirit- 
uous liquor,  in  May  1827,  as  the  received  doctrine  of  the  time 
was,  that  there  must  be  some  substitute,  I  used  wine  ;  procuring 
the  kind  most  approved  by  physicians,  and  the  purest  of  that 
kind.  I  began  with  the  daily  use  of  two  common  wine  glasses 
diluted  with  an  equal  quantity  of  water  ;  I  diminished  this  to  one 
wine  glass,  diluted  in  like  manner;  and  in  about  four  months, 
near  the  end  of  August  1827,  I  discontinued  the  use  of  wine  ; 
confining  myself,  for  drink,  to  water,  with  the  exception  of  the 
customary  use  of  tea  and  coffee ;  and  I  have  since  entirely  ab- 
stained from  the  use,  either  for  medicine  or  beverage,  of  all  in- 
toxicating liquor. 

When  I  commenced  this  course  of  total  abstinence,  August 
1827,  the  temperance  reformation  had  not  reached  us.  My  de- 
termination was  the  result  of  careful  and  long  continued  investi- 
gation. I  had  used  intoxicating  liquors,  in  the  full  persuasion, 
that  this  use  was  beneficial,  indeed,  indispensable  to  my  enjoy- 
ment of  health.  It  was  only  by  diligently  searching  facts,  and 
bringing  them  together,  (facts  which,  without  my  attention  being 


557]  NINTH   REPORT. — 1836.  43 

strongly  directed,  I  should  not  have  noticed  or  heeded,)  that  the 
settled  state  of  ray  mind  was  broken  up,  so  as  to  admit  the  light 
and  influence  of  truth.  I  make  this  remark,  to  present  this  sug- 
gestion. We  do  not  know  the  effect  of  habit.  It  is  a  power, 
which,  while  it  requires  the  highest  energy  to  break  it,  is  impal- 
pable ;  and  we  can  scarcely  be  roused  to  exert  ourselves  against 
it.  When  we  contract  a  habit,  with  a  view  to  a  particular  pur- 
pose, we  suppose  that  it  answers  the  purpose,  and  rest  in  this  as 
a  settled  point.  Our  supposition  may  be  directly  contrary  to 
fact,  while  the  habit  formed  upon  this  supposition  will  disqualify 
us  from  apprehending  the  fact.  I  have  known  several  go  down 
to  premature  graves,  through  the  use  of  what  they  employed  to 
sustain  life,  in  the  sincere  conviction  that  what  was  in  truth  de- 
stroying them,  was  the  only  means  of  their  preservation.  The 
danger  of  this  perversion  of  mind  is  not  enough  regarded.  We 
see  strongly  marked  cases  of  this  perversion,  and  conclude,  that 
the  wilfully  wrong  headed  only  can  be  subject  to  it ;  but  there 
are  cases  in  which  it  arises  unknown,  and  rests  unsuspected, 
upon  the  intelligent,  the  discerning,  the  moral  ;  blasting  useful- 
ness, and  leading  to  much  undesigned  evil. 

I  ought  to  add  ;  in  March,  18'27,  I  first  made  profession  of  re- 
ligion. I  was  then  brought  to  contemplate,  in  juster  views  than 
I  had  ever  taken,  the  worship  of  God.  I  saw  something  of  the 
doctrine,  "  God  is  a  Spirit  ;  and  they  that  worship  him,  must 
worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  This  worship  must  be  the 
sober,  pure,  genuine  work  of  the  heart,  in  full  self-possession. 
It  is  the  duty  of  every  one,  at  all  times,  to  be  in  a  suitable  state 
to  render  this  worship ;  not  to  be  in  such  a  state,  if  proceeding 
from  our  own  act,  is  an  ungrateful  and  inexcusable  sin.  A  mind 
excited  by  artificial  stimulus,  is  not  in  this  state.  Its  offering 
would  be  strange  fire.  I  do  not  mean  that  any  use  of  intoxicat- 
ing liquor  would  produce  the  evil  here  apprehended  ;  but,  for 
security  against  producing  it,  the  use  must  be  so  scrupulously  and 
carefully  limited,  while  the  tendency  to  transgress  this  limit,  or 
indeed  not  to  fix  at  first  within  the  safe  bound,  is  so  great,  that 
no  one  without  urgent  cause,  should  encounter  the  hazard  of 
offending.  This  was  among  the  considerations  influencing  my 
determination.     It  would  not  be  true  nor  just  to  omit  it. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year  following  that  in  which  I  entered  upon 
this  course  of  abstinence,  I  was  sick,  of  disease  common  to  that 
season  of  the  year,  and  from  which  I  had  frequently  suffered  in 
previous  years.  I  have  not  since  suffered  from  it.  When  I 
was  convalescent,  my  physician,  a  strictly  temperate  man,  ad- 
vised me  to  use  wine.  I  had  always  before  used  it  in  like 
circumstances.  I  now  refused ;  rejecting  this  advice,  because  I 
had    been  convinced   by   practical    observation,   and    what    I 


44  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [55& 

deemed  just  philosophical  reasoning,  that  wine  did  not  possess 
the  restorative  virtue  attributed  to  it.  For  a  short  time,  two 
days  or  so,  I  suffered,  from  exhaustion,  unpleasant  feelngs,  from 
which,  I  believe,  wine  would  have  relieved  me.  But  the  care- 
ful use  of  nourishing  food  soon  removed  them ;  and  I  regained 
my  usual  state  of  health  and  strength  in  less  than  one  half  the 
time  I  had  ever  before  done  after  a  similar  case  of  sickness. 

When  the  cholera  was  in  this  place,  in  1832,  many  suffered 
from  peculiar  debility.  I  was  among  this  number.  The  same 
physician  advised  me  to  use  wine.  I,  on  the  same  ground, 
again  rejected  his  advice.  I  am  satisfied  my  course  was  cor- 
rect, justified  by  experience.  In  every  other  particular,  I  fol- 
lowed this  physician's  advice. 

I  am  now  in  the  ninth  year,  (and  within  about  four  months 
of  its  completion,)  of  strict  total  abstinence  from  the  use,  either 
for  beverage,  or  medicine,  of  all  intoxicating  liquor.  I  have 
noticed  my  experience,  and  contrasted  it  with  that  of  the 
twenty-four  preceding  years,  while  I  temperately  used  these 
liquors.     The  result  of  my  observation,  is — 

1.  My  health  is  much  improved.  I  never  suffered  much 
from  sickness ;  I  was  never  dangerously  ill ;  but  I  can  clearly 
perceive,  that  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  although  temperate, 
did  impart  a  feverish  tendency  to  my  constitution  ;  so  that  what 
used  to  end  in  fever  of  three  or  four  days'  sickness,  requiring  ac- 
tive medicine,  now  passes  off  as  a  slight  indisposition,  like  a 
common  cold,  scarcely  requiring  medicine,  rarely  confining  me 
to  the  house,  and  then  not  entirely  disqualifying  me  from  my 
usual  employment.  There  is  an  elasticity  in  my  constitution, 
and  I  have  a  command  over  it,  different  from  what  was  the  case 
in  the  former  period  ;  so  that  I  easily  throw  off  symptoms  of  ap- 
proaching disease,  that  used  to  terminate  in  fever  ;  and  I  am  con- 
vinced, that  if  in  1803  I  had  adopted  the  course  of  entire  abst't- 
nence  from  intoxicating  liquors,  with  the  same  care  I  otherwise 
used  in  respect  to  my  health,  I  should  have  escaped  nearly  all 
the  sickness  with  which  I  have  been  afflicted. 

2.  I  can  endure,  without  inconvenience,  cold,  heat,  and  fa- 
tigue. My  power  for  continued  bodily  labor,  and  mental  exer- 
tion, is  increased.  I  feel  in  a  constant  state  of  fitness  for 
mental  exertion.  In  this  respect,  comparing  my  present  and 
former  experience,  I  believe,  that  through  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  though  temperate,  I  sustained  a  loss  of  at  least  the  twelfth 
part  of  the  working  hours  of  every  day  ;  a  rate,  according  to 
which  I  lost,  in  the  twenty-four  years  of  temperate  use  of  intox- 
icating liquor,  two  years.  Yet  mine  was,  in  general  estimation, 
a  life  of  unusual  application  and  industry ;  and  my  loss  was  not 
one  third  that  which  commonly  happens  from  the  like  cause. 


559]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  45 

This  is  a  point  on  which  there  is  too  little  consideration,  in  con- 
nection with  this  subject.  The  loss  and  misimprovement  of  time! 
the  neglect  or  misuse  of  opportunities  !  failing  to  gain  what  was 
within  reach  of  adequate  exertion  !  Nothing  but  the  sight,  di- 
rected and  sharpened  to  look  into  these  things,  will  ever  discern 
what  immense  loss  can  be  suffered,  un perceived. 

I  know  particularly  three  persons,  who  many  years  ago  aban- 
doned the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and  entered  upon  a  course 
of  total  abstinence.  The  health  of  all  of  them  was  greatly  im- 
proved ;  their  life  is  protracted  in  old  age.  In  respect  to  two  of 
them,  whose  bodily  frames  are  not  robust,  their  ability  to  endure 
cold,  heat,  and  fatigue,  is  remarkable.  I  am  confident,  their 
course  of  abstinence  has  greatly  contributed  to  this.  They  all 
declare,  in  unqualified  terms,  the  blessing  of  the  course  they 
have  adopted — speaking  of  it  as  incalculably  beneficial  to  them. 
I  noticed,  for  several  years  before  I  entered  upon  the  course  of 
total  abstinence,  that  those  persons  who  refrained  from  all  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  appeared  to  be  always  in  health,  not  suffering, 
like  others,  from  the  sickness  of  the  season.  I  have  noticed, 
that  eminent  physicians,  in  prescribing  diet  to  invalids,  always 
interdicted,  as  part  of  their  prescription,  spirituous  and  other 
liquors.  1  have  noticed,  that  persons  in  the  use  of  common 
conversation,  when  speaking  of  one  who  was  sick,  if  they  spoke 
of  his  being  a  very  temperate  man,  always  added  an  expecta- 
tion of  his  recovery  ;  and  that,  on  the  contrary,  the  fact  of  a 
sick  person  having  been  a  free  liver,  was  always  joined  with  a 
proportionate  apprehension  of  a  fatal  termination  of  his  disease. 
And  I  have  never  seen  a  person,  or  heard  of  one,  who  has 
made  reasonable  trial  of  a  course  of  entire  abstinence  from  in- 
toxicating liquor,  who  denies  that  it  is  attended  with  great  ad- 
vantages, or  suggests  any  evil  incident  to  it." 

32.  From  Benjamin  Silliman,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Professor  of 
Chemistry,  Pharmacy,  Mineralogy,  and  Geology,  in  Yale  Col- 
lege, New  Haven,  Connecticut. 

"  At  about  forty-three  years  of  age,  I  suffered  an  almost  entire 
prostration  of  health,  in  consequence  of  excessive  labors,  and 
affliction,  from  the  sickness  and  death  of  several  of  my  children. 
During  several  years,  in  which  1  was  sinking,  I  tried  in  vain, 
under  medical  direction,  the  most  approved  forms  of  stimulus, 
joined  with  the  most  nutritious  and  varied  diet.  When  at  length, 
my  powers  were  almost  broken  down,  I  was  persuaded  by  a 
friend,  to  abandon  the  use  of  wine  and  every  other  alcoholic 
stimulus,  and  to  depend  upon  a  small  quantity  of  bread,  crack- 
ers, rice,  and  little  animal  muscle,  or  other  simple  kinds  of  food 


46  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [560 

with  water,  milk,  or  other  mild  diluent  drinks,  omitting  every 
thing  that  contains  alcohol.  W-thin  a  few  weeks,  my  health 
began  to  mend,  and,  at  the  end  of  one  year,  1  was  able  to  re- 
turn to  arduous  duties,  demanding  constant  exertion  of  both 
body  and  mind.  My  frame,  naturally  vigorous  and  elastic, 
gradually  recovered  its  tone,  and  now,  thirteen  years  after  the 
period  of  my  greatest  depression,  1  am  able,  upon  a  simple  but 
common  diet,  consisting  of  the  most  usual  articles  of  food,  taken 
without  any  use  of  alcoholic  stimulus,  to  perform  'constant  labor 
in  my  profession,  with  much  public  speaking,  and  I  sustain  no 
inconvenience,  except,  the  fatigue  which  sleep  removes,  as  in 
the  case  of  other  healthy  persons.  I  was,  from  childhood, 
constitutionally  prone  to  bleeding  at  the  nose,  and  sometimes 
to  an  alarming  degree.  After  the  recovery  of  my  health,  I  al- 
lowed myself  to  use,  with  much  moderatoin,  the  best  bottled 
cider,  at  dinner  only.  After  abstaining  from  it,  for  a  few 
weeks,  on  a  long  journey,  (because  cider  of  a  good  quality 
could  not  be  obtained,  at  the  taverns,)  my  nose  bleeding  ceased, 
and  with  it  the  vertigos,  and  confused  and  uncomfortable  feel- 
ings of  the  head  and  nerves,  by  which  I  had  frequently  been 
troubled.  Thinking  that  cider  might  have  been  concerned  in 
causing  these  effects  I  have  never  returned  to  its  use,  and  for 
nearly  three  years,  since  I  omitted  cider,  I  have  had  no  serious 
recurrence  of  these  affections. 

P.  S.  In  two  other  cases,  within  my  knowledge,  nose 
bleeding  has  ceased  by  the  omission  of  cider.  In  one  of  these, 
the  bleeding  was  excessive  and  dangerous.  The  individual 
last  referred  to  is  a  very  athletic  man,  of  full  habit  and  sanguine 
temperament." 

33.  From  the  Honorable  Robert  Guest  White,  late  High 
Sheriff  of  Dublin,  Ireland. 

"  Having  read  in  the  American  Temperance  Recorder  of  No- 
vember last,  your  excellent  letter  of  the  16th  of  October,  as 
well  as  the  editor's  able  remarks  thereon,  calling  upon  every 
person  to  afford  any  information  in  their  power,  which  may 
tend  to  confirm  and  permanently  establish  the  principle  of  en- 
tire abstinence  from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating 
drinks  ;  I,  as  an  humble,  but  decided  advocate  thereof,  beg 
leave  to  address  you,  and  to  state  the  result  of  my  experience, 
since  I  was  enabled  to  act  upon  this  noble  and  heart-cheering 
system. 

To  bring  it  into  the  compass  of  a  letter,  I  shall  commence 
by  remarking,  that,  when  elected  High  Sheriff  of  this  City,  in 
the  spring  of   the  year  1818,  I  was  afflicted  with  an  internal 


561]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  47 

complaint;  and  being  allowed  six  months  before  entering  upon 
the  duties  of  my  office,  for  the  building  of  a  state  carriage,  pro- 
curing horses,  servants,  liveries,  &c.,  1  devoted  this  whole  period, 
under  the  care  of  an  eminent  physician,  to  the  recovery  of  my 
health,  but  regret  to  state,  without  any  abatement  whatever  of 
the  complaint. 

In  the  first  month  of  my  official  duties,  twenty-two  persons 
were  condemned  to  suffer  death  ;  but  strong  intercessions  having 
succeeded  with  the  government,  twelve  only  (including  a  female) 
were  executed.  And,  as  a  powerful  proof  of  the  dreadful  ef- 
fects of  intemperance,  the  condemned  cells  (as  well  as  myself,) 
witnessed  every  one  of  these  individuals  attributing  their  me- 
lancholy end  to  drunkenness  and  bad  company. 

Happy  would  it  have  been  for  society  in  general,  had  the 
temperance  reformation  taken  effect  at  that,  or  an  earlier  period. 
But  civic  feasting  was  then  (and  indeed  is  to  the  present)  the 
order  of  the  day  ;  nor  had  the  awful  instance  referred  to,  the 
least  effect  upon  it;  on  the  contrary,  some  who  had  preceded 
me  in  office,  followed  those  criminals  to  a  premature  grave. 

But  I  rejoice  to  say  that,  by  the  municipal  bill,  at  this  moment 
passing  through  our  houses  of  Parliament,  the  present  year  will 
terminate  this  profligate  expenditure,  and  drunkenness  ;  and,  I 
trust,  "  the  cups  that  cheer,  but  not  inebriate,"  will  be  establish- 
ed, where  the  ladies  will  preside,  forming  their  proportion  of  the 
assembly,  and,  by  their  smiles  and  influence,  perfect  and  per- 
petuate the  moral  renovaton,  and  physical  improvement,  of  the 
human  family. 

Having,  in  the  year  1834,  been  summoned  to  London  to  at- 
tend the  parliamentary  committee  on  drunkenness,  of  which,  my 
friend,  James  S.  Buckingham,  Esq.,  M.  P.  for  Sheffield,  was 
chairman,  I,  for  the  first  time,  heard  of  the  Temperance  Society 
at  Preston,  and  having  visited  it  at  the  end  of  August,  was  pre- 
sent at  a  festival  held  in  the  theatre  five  successive  nights.  I 
had  then  the  happiness  to  see  and  hear  numbers  of  reformed 
characters  stand  forward,  and  publicly  state  to  crowded  audiences, 
the  poverty  and  misery  they  and  their  families  had  experienced, 
while  under  the  baneful  influence  of  intemperance,  and  the  com- 
fort and  happiness  they  subsequently  enjoyed  as  abstainers  from 
all  intoxicating  drinks. 

Satisfied  of  the  utility  of  this  society,  I  felt  it  my  bounden 
duty  (both  as  a  philanthropist  and  a  Christian,)  to  give  it  all  the 
aid  in  my  power,  assured  that,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  it  had 
been  made  the  means  of  reclaiming  thousands  of  drunkards — of 
bringing  peace  and  prosperity  to  the  workingman's  home — of  in- 
ducing parents  to  send  their  children  to  school — ultimately  ac- 
companying them  regularly  to  their  respective  places  of  public 


48  AMERICAN    TEMPERANCE    SOCIETY.  [562 

worship  ;  and,  having  themselves  experienced  the  benefits  of  so- 
briety, and  the  blessings  of  religion,  numbers  were  induced  to 
go  into  "  the  villages  and  highways,"  endeavoring  to  persuade 
their  fellows  to  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  and  to  look 
to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  only  hope  for  salvation. 

I,  therefore,  became  a  member  of  the  Society,  by  signing 
"  the  total  abstinence  pledge"  upon  the  spot ;  as  correctly 
stated  in  that  able,  lucid,  most  interesting,  and  important  docu- 
ment, your  Eighth  Report.* 

Permit  me  here  to  record  my  most  grateful  thanks  to  the  al- 
mighty giver  of  all  good,  for  his  great  mercy,  in  preserving  me 
in  abstinence  in  public,  social,  and  domestic  company,  as  well  as 
for  enabling  me  to  add,  that  I  now  enjoy  my  glass  of  water,  far 
beyond  the  most  expensive  wines  I  had  the  honor  to  partake  of, 
even  at  his  Majesty's,  or  his  Excellency  the  Lord  Lieutenant's 
table. 

Had  the  physician  I  consulted  wrote  the  simple  prescription, 
"  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks"  and  had  I  then  pos- 
sessed the  moral  courage  to  act  agreeably  to  it,  the  sixteen  years 
passed  in  frequent  pain  and  weakness,  might,  by  the  blessing  of 
a  kind  providence,  been  like  the  last  eighteen  months,  in  which 
I  have  had  the  happiness  to  enjoy  health  and  strength,  the  com- 
plaint (hemorrhoids)  having  altogether  disappeared. 

My  temper,  naturally  irritable,  was  made  more  so  even  by 
the  small  quantity  of  wine  1  was  in  the  habit  of  taking,  and  I 
now  enjoy  a  uniformity  of  health,  to  which  I  was  then  a  per- 
fect stranger ;  and  although  I  have  attained  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven,  yet,  with  gratitude,  can  truly  say,  that  1  feel  altogether 
stronger,  and  my  appetite  much  better,  than  when  I  removed 
from  London,  to  become  a  resident  in  Dublin,  nearly  thirty  years 
since. 

It  is,  indeed,  a  most  singular  fact,  that,  in  every  instance 
where  our  principles  of  abstinence  have  been  fairly  acted  upon, 
the  result  has  been  the  same,  namely,  all  agreeing,  that  their 
health  of  body,  and  peace  of  mind  have  been  materially  benefit- 
ed ;  and  the  zeal  possessed  by  thousands  of  our  brave  men  in 
the  working  classes  of  society  to  save  their  feliow-mortals,  by  di- 
recting them  to  the  path  of  abstinence,  as  well  as  the  powerful 
abilities  manifested  in  publicly  addressing  them,  are  equally  re- 
markable, and  no  less  gratifying. 

As  to  the  capability  of  a  "  tee-totaler's  exertions,"  permit  me 
to  mention  those  made  by  my  dear  and  worthy  friend,  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Livesey,  of  Preston,  who,  in  October  last,  traveled  up- 
wards of  three   hundred   miles   in  six  days;  in  which  time,  he 

*See  the  Eighth  Report  of  Uie  American  Teuipeiance  Society,  p.  26. 


563]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  49 

attended  five  evening  and  one  noon  temperance  meetings,  speak- 
ing upwards  of  two  hours  at  each  of  them,  without  feeling  the 
least  inconvenience  or  fatigue  ;  and  this  he  is  able  and  willing 
to  repeat,  whenever  opportunity  offers,  or  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance requires. 

Nor  would  I  omit  Mr.  Buckingham,  Capt.  Pilkington,  and 
the  celebrated  "Author  of  Wanderings  in  South  America," 
all  of  whom  have  long  and  steadily  acted  upon  our  principles, 
and  are  splendid  instances  of  the  great  advantages  of  absti- 
nence ;  as  are  also  some  connected  with  our  "  British  Associa- 
tion," did  this  paper  afford  space  to  communicate  them. 

Writing  so  much  in  the  first  person  singular,  may,  by  some, 
be  construed  into  egotism  ;  but  allow  me  to  remind  them,  they 
are  positive  facts,  the  result  of  my  own  experience  and  obser- 
vation, with  regard  to  the  nature  and  effects  of  intoxicating 
drinks  ;  which,  at  the  request  of  a  friend,  are  transmitted  to 
you,  in  the  hope,  that  when  embodied  with  those  of  more  ex- 
perienced persons,  they  may  prove  serviceable  to  the  rising 
generation,  by  impressing  upon  their  minds,  that  wherever  in- 
toxicating liquor  has  been  used  as  a  drink,  it  has  been  one  of 
the  most  powerful  and  deadly  foes  to  the  social,  civil,  and  re- 
ligious interests  of  men  ;  and  where  abstinence  from  the  use  of 
this  liquor  has  prevailed,  that  health,  virtue  and  happiness  have 
been  greatly  promoted,  and  all  the  means  for  the  advancement 
of  the  good  of  mankind,  crowned  with  augmented  success. 

That  the  blessing  of  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit, 
may  rest  abundantly  upon  the  labors  of  your  excellent  society, 
as  well  as  upon  those  of  every  other,  who  act  upon  the  princi- 
ple of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  drinks,  is  the  daily 
prayer  of,  dear  sir,  your  faithful  friend  and  brother  in  the  good 
cause." 

From  the  Rev.  Leonard  Woods  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Chris- 
tian Theology,  in  the  Theological  Seminary,  Andover,  Massa- 
chusetts. 

"  Your  request  that  I  would  communicate  to  you,  the  results 
of  my  own  experience  and  observation  in  regard  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks,  ought  to  have  been  attended  to  long  ago. 
My  experience  is  substantially  like  that  of  many  others  ;  and 
the  few  remarks  I  have  to  make  are  similar  in  their  import,  to 
those  which  have  often  been  made  by  the  advocates  of  the  Tem- 
perance Reformation.  This  circumstance,  however,  shall  not 
prevent  me  from  speaking  with  freedom  on  a  subject  which  is 
so  interesting  to  my  feelings,  and  so  important  to  the  welfare 
of  the  community. 

When  I  entered  on  the  work  of  the  ministry,  (thirty-eight 
5 


50  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE   SOCIETY.  [564 

years  ago,)  it  was  the  general  and  almost  universal  practice  for 
ministers  to  make  a  frequent  use  of  stimulating  drinks,  espe- 
cially on  the  Sabbath.  They  considered  this  practice  an  im- 
portant means  of  promoting  their  health,  sustaining  them  under 
fatigue,  and  increasing  the  vigor  of  their  constitution.  The 
generality  of  physicians  approved  of  this  practice  ;  and  of- 
ten recommended  brandy,  wine,  gin,  etc.,  as  the  best  reme- 
dy for  diseases  of  the  stomach  and  lungs.  Every  family  that 
I  visited,  deemed  it  an  act  of  kindness,  and  no  more  than  what 
common  civility  required,  to  offer  me  wine,  or  distilled  spirit, 
and  thought  it  a  little  strange,  if  I  refused  to  drink.  At  funer- 
als, the  bereaved  friends  and  others  were  accustomed  to  use 
strong  drink  before  and  after  going  to  the  burial.  At  ordina- 
tions, councils,  and  all  other  meetings  of  ministers,  different 
kinds  of  stimulating  drinks  were  provided  ;  and  there  were 
but  few  who  did  not  partake  of  them. 

So  long  as  these  liquors  were  regarded  as  necessary  articles 
of  living,  the  expense  was  little  thought  of.  But  reflected  up- 
on now,  the  annual  expense  of  15,  20,  30,  and  40  gallons  of 
brandy,  wine,  gin,  etc.,  appears  no  small  matter  to  ministers 
and  others,  who  are  possessed  of  a  bare  sufficiency  for  the  sup- 
port of  their  families. 

The  state  of  things  which  I  have  referred  to,  among  men  of 
my  own  profession,  together  with  its  manifest  consequences, 
began,  early  in  my  ministry,  to  alarm  my  fears.  I  remember 
that  at  a  particular  period,  before  the  temperance  reforma- 
tion commenced,  I  was  able  to  count  up  nearly  forty  ministers 
of  the  gospel  and  none  of  them  at  a  very  great  distance,  who 
were  either  drunkards,  or  so  far  addicted  to  intemperate  drink- 
ing, that  their  reputation  and  usefulness  were  greatly  injured, 
if  not  utterly  ruined.  And  I  could  mention  an  ordination  that 
took  place  about  twenty  years  ago,  at  which,  I,  myself,  was 
ashamed  and  grieved  to  see  two  aged  ministers  literally  drunk  ; 
and  a  third,  indecently  excited  with  strong  drink.  These  dis- 
gusting and  appalling  facts  I  should  wish  might  be  concealed. 
But  they  were  made  public  by  the  guilty  persons  ;  and  I  have 
thought  it  just  and  proper  to  mention  them,  in  order  to  show 
how  much  we  owe  to  a  compassionate  God  for  the  great  de- 
liverance he  has  wrought. 

After  I  was  admitted  to  the  sacred  office,  I  proceeded  only 
a  few  years  according  to  common  usage,  before  I  began  to  ab- 
stain in  part  from  distilled  liquor.  For,  though  my  health  was 
almost  uniformly  good,  I  was  sometimes  troubled  with  the  head- 
ache and  other  complaints,  which  I  was  led  more  and  more 
distinctly  to  attribute  to  the  use  of  such  liquor.  About  thirty 
years  ago,  I  gave  it  up  wholly,  as  a  common  drink,  with  very 
perceptible  benefit  to  my  health.     The  next  step,  which  re- 


565]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  51 

quired  no  small  degree  of  resolution  and  firmness,  was  to  ex- 
clude it  from  my  family,  and  no  longer  to  provide  it  for  labor- 
ers or  visitants.  Still  I  continued  the  occasional  use  of  wine, 
especially  after  the  labors  of  the  Sabbath,  thinking  that  I  must 
take  something  of  the  kind,  to  prevent  exhaustion  and  secure 
permanent  health.  But  1  soon  found  myself  as  much  mistak- 
en in  this,  as  in  the  other  case  ;  for  the  effect  of  wine  was  in 
a  great  measure  the  same  as  that  of  distilled  liquor.  And  be- 
ing more  and  more  sensible  that  I  was  better  without  it,  and 
having  a  growing  conviction  that  it  was  unnecessary  and  inju- 
rious, I  gave  up  wine  also,  first  in  ordinary  cases,  and  then 
wholly. 

Both  before  and  after  this,  I  made  long  trial,  in  various  ways, 
of  the  effect  of  other  fermented  liquors,  as  cider,  ale,  and  por- 
ter. And  though  they  were  urged  upon  me  by  respectable  and 
pious  men,  and  though  I  was  able  to  bear  up  under  the  moder- 
ate use  of  them  occasionally  ;  yet  the  lesson  which  my  own 
experience  and  observation  taught  me,  was  the  same  here  as 
in  the  other  cases,  that  is,  that  all  such  drinks  are  both  unne- 
cessary and  hurtful.  And  I  have  now  for  a  long  time,  and  with 
a  most  decided  improvement  of  my  health,  acted  on  the  prin- 
ciple of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  drinks.  So  that 
the  pledge  unanimously  adopted  of  late  by  the  officers  and  stu- 
dents of  the  institutions  in  this  place,  and  so  extensively  favor- 
ed in  this  country,  has  required  no  change  in  my  practice. 

I  have  said,  that  I  abstain  from  all  intoxicating  drinks  from 
a  full  conviction,  resulting  from  long  experience  and  careful  ob- 
servation, that  they  are  unnecessary  and  hurtful.  But  had  I 
not  so  full  a  conviction  of  this,  and  did  I  think  the  use  of  wine 
and  other  fermented  liquors  of  some  real  benefit  to  me,  I  should 
still  feel  myself  under  obligations  to  abstain,  on  other  grounds. 
Ever  since  the  American  Temperance  Society  was  formed,  it 
has  been  evident  to  me,  as  I  know  it  has  to  you,  and  to  all  oth- 
ers particularly  enlisted  in  the  cause,  that  the  use  of  ferment- 
ed liquors,  especially  wine,  by  those  who  have  abandoned  dis- 
tilled liquors,  is  a  hurtful  snare  to  multitudes  in  the  common 
walks  of  life,  and  a  very  great  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  re- 
formation through  the  whole  community.  After  the  most  seri- 
ous consideration  of  the  subject,  I  have  therefore  been  com- 
pelled to  renounce  the  opinion  which  in  common  with  many 
others,  I  was  once  rather  inclined  to  adopt,  and  have  become 
fully  persuaded,  that  the  cause  of  temperance  cannot  prevail 
and  triumph,  without  the  abandonment  of  fermented  as  well  as 
distilled  liquors.  Here  then  I  am  brought  under  the  obligation 
of  the  law  of  love.  And  on  this  ground,  I  should  feel  it  to 
be  a  sacred  duty  to  give  up  wine  and  other  fermented  liquors 


52  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY.  [556 

as  a  beverage,  though  it  should  involve  some  real  loss  of  advan- 
tage to  myself.  My  obligation  in  this  matter  is  set  in  a  very 
clear  light  by  an  appeal  to  the  word  of  God.  The  sacred 
writers  lay  down  many  general  precepts,  which  evidently  in- 
volve the  principle  I  have  now  introduced.  But  there  are  two 
passages  in  particular,  from  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  which  bear 
more  directly  upon  the  subject,  and  which  must  be  regarded  as 
conclusive,  if  we  are  to  be  bound  by  his  judgment  and  exam- 
ple. The  first  is,  1  Cor.  8:  13.  "  Wherefore,  if  meat  make 
my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  stand- 
eth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend."  The  other  is  Rom. 
14:  21.  "  It  is  good  neither  to  eat  flesh,  nor  to  drink  wine, 
nor  any  thing  whereby  thy  brother  stumbleth,  or  is  offended, 
or  is  made  weak."  Such  was  the  disposition  of  the  Apostle 
Paul,  who  possessed  as  much  decision,  firmness,  and  indepen- 
dance,  as  any  man  living,  but  who  had  been  with  Jesus  and 
learned  of  him  ;  such  was  the  Apostle's  disposition  to  yield 
and  make  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  others.  And  how  can  I 
refuse  to  copy  such  an  example  ?  Finding  that  my  use  of  wine 
or  any  other  intoxicating  drink  would  diminish  my  power  to  do 
good,  and  might  occasion  injury  to  some  of  my  fellow  men,  I 
should  feel  myself  obliged,  from  regard  to  the  authority  of  rev- 
elation, and  from  love  to  God  and  man,  to  give  it  up,  even 
though  the  use  of  it  might  be  a  pleasure  to  my  taste,  and  an  ad- 
vantage to  my  health.  But  as  it  is,  I  can  practice  that  absti- 
nence from  stimulating  drinks,  which  the  good  of  others  de- 
mands, not  only  without  loss  in  regard  to  health  or  pleasure, 
but  with  great  gain  as  to  both.* 

I  have  frequently,  and  with  deep  concern,  reflected  on  the 
effect  of  stimulating  drinks  upon  our  moral  and  religious  state. 
And  such  is  the  result  of  my  reflection,  that,  if  I  look  back  to 
the  time  when  ministers  and  Christians  generally  made  use  of 
such  drinks,  I  am  ready  to  wonder  that  their  spiritual  interests 
were  not  totally  blasted,  and  doubtless  they  would  have  been 
thus  blasted,  had  not  God,  in  great  forbearance  and  mercy, 
winked  at  the  times  of  this  ignorance.  But  with  the  light  now 
cast  on  the  subject,  it  seems  to  me  incredible,  that  a  minister 
of  the  gospel  can  be  in  the  habit  of  using  any  intoxicating  li- 
quor, though  in  moderate  quantities,  without  essentially  injuring 
his  own  piety,  and  diminishing  the  success  of  his  labors.  This 
view  of  the  subject,  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  express 
very  plainly,  is  the  result  of  much  sober  and  careful  observation 
on  myself  and  others,  as  to  the  moral  influence  of  the  habit 
which  was  once  so  common.      It  tends  to  inflame  all  that  is  de- 

*  In  the  above  remarks,  I  have  no  reference  to  the  use  of  wine,  at  the  Lord's 
Supper. 


557]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  53 

praved  and  earthly  in  a  minister,  and  to  extinguish  all  that  is 
spiritual  and  holy.  It  is  poison  to  the  soul,  as  really  as  to  the 
body.  Such  is  my  conviction,  and  there  are  hundreds  and 
thousands  who  have  the  same  conviction,  and  will  express  it 
in  terms  equally  strong.  Nor  is  it  any  matter  of  imagination 
or  conjecture  with  us.  We  know  it  just  as  certainly  as  any 
one,  from  uniform  experience  and  observation,  knows  the  ef- 
fect of  opium  or  arsenic  upon  the  animal  system  ;  and  just  as 
certainly  as  any  Christian  knows  by  experience  the  effect  pro- 
duced upon  his  spiritual  state  by  the  commission  of  sin.  We 
know  it  by  sorrowful  recollection.  We  know  it  by  what  was, 
at  the  time,  a  real  but  frequently  a  suppressed  inward  conscious- 
ness. And  it  was  this  deep  consciousness,  which  always  kept 
me  and  most  other  ministers  from  drinking  any  distilled  or  fer- 
mented liquor,  just  before  engaging  in  any  religious  service, 
public  or  private. 

And  now,  let  us  render  praise  to  him,  from  whom  all  good 
thoughts,  wise  counsels  and  useful  actions  proceed.  Thanks 
be  to  God  for  what  his  hand  has  wrought,  and  for  the  unlook- 
ed  for  success  with  which  he  has  crowned  the  labors  of  his  ser- 
vants, who  have  been  enlisted  in  this  cause.  For  where,  my 
brother,  in  all  New  England,  and  I  was  going  to  say,  in  the 
United  States  of  America, — where  now  can  a  true  minister  of 
Christ  be  found,  who  keeps  up  the  practice  of  using  strong 
drink  ?  If  unhappily  I  should  find  such  an  one,  whether  old  or 
young,  I  would  earnestly  beseech  that  dear  brother,  by  the 
mercies  of  God,  to  lay  aside  a  practice  which  thousands  of 
ministers  know  assuredly  to  be  a  clog  to  devotion,  and  a  hin- 
drance to  growth  in  grace,  to  spiritual  enjoyment,  and  to  min- 
isterial success." 

Such  are  specimens  of  the  effects  produced  upon  hundreds  of 
thousands,  of  all  ages,  and  in  all  departments  of  life,  of  abstinence 
from  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  all  intoxicating  liquor.  These 
specimens  might  be  multiplied  to  almost  any  extent,  did  the  cause 
require  it;  but  enough,  it  is  believed,  have  been  exhibited,  in 
connection  with  the  foregoing  principles,  reasonings,  and  facts,  to 
set  this  matter,  in  the  minds  of  all  candid,  unprejudiced  persons, 
forever  at  rest.  All  the  information  which  the  committee  have 
been  able  to  obtain,  and  all  the  views,  which,  after  ten  years  labor, 
they  are  now  able  to  take  of  this  subject,  go  to  confirm  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  above-mentioned  statements.  And  they  cannot  but 
consider  it  as  now  fully  proved,  that  intoxicating  liquor,  as  a  bev- 
erage, is  not  needful  or  useful  to  men;  that  it  is,  indeed,  an  ene- 
my to  the  human  constitution,  and,  in  its  effects,  hurtful  to  the 
body  and  soul;  that  it  produces  many,  and  aggravates  most3  of 


54  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY.  [558 

the  diseases  with  which  men  are  afflicted  ;  that  it  renders  dis- 
eases hereditary",  and  thus  tends  to  deteriorate  the  human  family, 
and  inflict  numerous  and  sore  calamities  on  all  future  generations  ; 
that  it  weakens  the  understanding,  stupifies  the  conscience,  and 
hardens  the  heart ;  deranges,  and  often  destroys,  reason  ;  occa- 
sions an  immense  loss  of  property,  and  a  great  increase  of  personal 
and  domestic  wretchedness  ;  weakens  the  power  of  motives  to  do 
right,  and  increases  the  power  of  motives  to  do  wrong  ;  causes 
most  of  the  pauperism  and  crimes  in  the  community;  powerfully 
counteracts  the  efficacy  of  the  gospel,  and  all  means  for  the  intel- 
lectual elevation,  the  moral  purity,  the  social  happiness,  and  the 
eternal  good  of  men  ;  vitiates  the  public  taste,  corrupts  the  public 
morals,  and  debases  the  public  mind ;  endangers  the  purity  and 
permanence  of  free  institutions  ;  shortens  human  life,  and  tends  to 
make  men  dishonor  God,  and  destroy  their  own  souls. 

They  cannot  but  consider  it,  also,  as  fully  and  abundantly 
proved,  that  continuance  in  the  use,  as  a  beverage,  of  intoxicating 
liquor,  tends  to  perpetuate  intemperancef  and  spread  its  desolating 
effects  over  all  future  generations  ;  and,  that  abstinence  from  such 
use  of  it,  is  not  only  safe,  but  highly  salutary.  As  far  as  this 
course  has  been  adopted,  it  has  caused  drunkenness  to  cease; 
and  if  adopted  universally,  would  banish  its  evils  from  the  world. 
The  gospel,  and  all  means  for  doing  good  to  mankind,  might  then 
be  expected  to  be  crowned  with  greatly  augmented  success. 

In  view  of  these  truths,  the  committee  would,  therefore,  most 
respectfully,  affectionately,  and  earnestly  commend  this  subject  to 
the  careful  attention,  and  active  support  of  all.  Especially  would 
they  commend  it  to  the  attention,  and  the  prayers,  and  the  per- 
severing efforts  of  professed  Christians  ;  and  most  of  all,  ministers 

OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

You,  whose  holy  office,  and  beneficent  labors  we  highly  appre- 
ciate, are  the  captains  of  the  Lord's  hosts ;  appointed  under  the 
captain  of  salvation,  to  lead  them  onward  in  their  conquests  over 
sin  and  death  ;  from  conquering  to  conquer.  And,  in  this  war- 
fare, you  have  to  contend,  "not  with  flesh  and  blood  only,  but 
with  principalities  and  powers ;  with  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of 
of  this  world,  and  with  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places."  And 
your  success  will  depend  very  much,  under  God,  upon  your  like- 
ness to  him  ;  your  freedom  and  frequency  of  access  to  the  throne 
of  his  mercy ;  and  that  habitual  communion  of  spirit,  with  the 
Father  of  spirits,  by  which  you  shall  receive  of  his  fulness,  grow 
in  conformity  to  his  image,  and  labor  wisely,  vigorously,  and  per- 
severingly,  according  to  his  working,  which  shall  habitually  work 
in  you,  mightily.  Butthe  effects  of  alcohol,  as  a  beverage,  whether 
you  take  little  or  much,  just  in  proportion  as  you  come  under  its 


559]  NINTH  REPORT. 1836.  55 

intoxicating  power,  or  feel  its  poisonous  and  deranging  effects,  will 
tend  to  render  you  more  unlike  to  God  ;  to  hinder  you  from 
having  access  to  the  throne  of  his  mercy ;  from  being  filled  with 
his  fulness  ;  or,  in  his  light,  seeing  light.  It  will  tend  to  make 
you  less  wise  by  his  wisdom,  and  less  strong  in  his  strength  ;  and 
cause  you  to  be  less  comforted  with  his  consolations.  It  will 
tend  to  make  your  labors  less  efficacious,  in  turning  men  to  right- 
eousness, and  will  thus  exert  an  influence  which  will  tend  to  pre- 
vent their  deliverance  from  sin  and  death  ;  and  to  cause  "  those 
who  are  filthy,  to  remain  filthy  still."  While  many  who  may 
not  have  your  self-control,  or  your  aid  from  on  high,  may  be  em- 
boldened by  your  example,  to  use  that,  which  will  lead  them  on- 
ward, from  one  degree  of  indulgence  to  another,  till  they  sink 
down  in  the  agonies  of  the  second  death. 

Not  a  few  who  once  held  your  sacred  and  responsible  office, 
have  looked  upon  with  desire,  and  have  taken  the  intoxicating 
poison,  "  when  it  gave  its  color  in  the  cup,  and  moved  itself 
aright;"  and  have  found,  by  woful  experience,  that,  "at  the  last, 
it  biteth  like  a  serpent,  and  stingeth  like  an  adder." 

And,  although  the  way  which  they  took,  through  the  blinding 
influence  of  their  practice,  may  "  have  seemed  right  unto  them, 
the  end  thereof  was  the  way  of  death."  And  they  now  lie  as  so 
many  beacons  to  warn  those  who  may  come  after  them,  not  to 
take  the  first  step  in  the  road  which  led  them  to  ruin.  Nor  did 
they  perish  alone.  Multitudes,  deluded  and  hardened,  through 
their  influence,  went  on  blindfold,  till  they  also  sunk,  irretrievably 
into  the  same  place  of  torment.  And  other  multitudes,  in  greater 
and  greater  numbers,  were,  by  their  example,  prejudiced  fatally 
against  the  gospel,  and  all  means  for  bringing  them  under  its 
illuminating  and  purifying  power.  So  that,  instead  of  being,  as 
it  is  adapted  to  be,  "  a  savor  of  life  unto  life,"  it  has  been,  to 
them,  "  a  savor  of  death  unto  death." 

For  your  own  sake,  therefore,  for  your  hearers'  sake,  and  for 
the  sake  of  the  community;  for  the  sake  of  our  divine  and  glori- 
ous Redeemer,  who,  for  us,  made  the  greatest  of  all  sacrifices, 
and  for  the  sake  of  that  precious  cause,  for  which  he  agonized  in 
the  garden,  expired  on  the  cross,  and  now  intercedes  in  heaven, 
break  off,  we  do  beseech,  all  connection  with  this  destroyer.  As 
it  makes  so  many  to  "offend,"  even  unto  death,  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it,  "  while  the  world  standeth."  And  labor  unceasingly, 
"  in  all  suitable  ways,  to  discountenance  the  use  of  it  throughout 
the  community."  More  than  three  thousand  of  your  number  in 
the  United  States,  and  many  among  the  most  distinguished  of  all 
other  professions,  have  adopted  this  course  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of 
doing  good  to  others,  by  example,  have  publicly  pledged  them- 
selves to  abstain  from  it.     Unite  your  influence  with  theirs,  and 


56  AMERICAN  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY.  [560 

with  the  multitudes  of  others  who  have  adopted  this  course,  and 
you  will,  as  we  believe,  experience  the  benefit  of  it  in  your  own 
bodies  and  souls  ;  in  your  private  duties,  and  your  public  minis- 
trations. You  will  have  more  clear  and  vigorous  intellectual  con- 
ceptions, and  more  kind,  uniform,  and  benevolent  moral  feelings. 
You  will  have  a  more  extended  vision  of  human  wants  and  woes; 
a  keener  and  deeper  sympathy  with  them,  and  a  greater  disposi- 
tion and  ability  to  relieve  them.  You  will  have  more  free  and  sweet 
access  to  the  throne  of  your  heavenly  Father ;  more  bright  and 
constant  manifestations  of  his  presence  ;  and  be  favored  with  a  more 
abiding  and  transforming  hope,  that,  through  grace,  you  shall,  ere 
long,  see  him  as  he  is,  and  with  multitudes,  saved  through  your 
instrumentality,  be  forever  like  him.  Your  labors,  too,  will  be 
instrumental,  through  grace,  of  saving  greater  numbers,  from  an 
eternity  of  sinning,  and  an  eternity  of  suffering  ;  transforming 
them  into  the  image,  raising  them  to  the  presence,  and  preparing 
them  to  reflect  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  and  with  him  to  rise 
from  glory  to  glory,  to  endless  being. 

Extracts  of  a  teller  from  a  distinguished  gentleman  in  Persia,  to  the  Corres- 
ponding Secretary  of  the  American  Tempeiance  Society. 

"  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir, 

1  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  reception  of  yours  of  Jan.  1,  communicating  my  ap- 
pointment, as  a  corresponding  member  of  the  American  Temperance  Society.  The  accompany- 
ing volume  of  your  Reports,  though  I  read  them  as  they  were  successively  issued,  I  shall  still 
peruse  and  re-peruse  with  lively  interest ;  and;  it  will  always  be  my  study,  so  far  as  it  shall 
be  in  my  power,  to  contribute  my  humble  influence  to  the  promotion  and  accomplishment  of  the 
august  object  at  which  you  aim — the  complete  and  universal  triumph  of  temperance. 

To  the  several  points  on  which  you  request  information,  I  will  reply  in  the  order  in  which 
you  name  them. 

I,  What  are  the  habits  of  the  people,  with  regard  to  temperance  ? 

While  I  search  in  vain,  among  the  people  around  me  for  a  single  trait,  that  ennobles  my  na- 
tive country,  one  circumstance,  which  is  characteristic  alike  of  Persia  and  America,  is  almost 
daily  thrust  upon  my  view, — that  circumstance  is  beastly  Intemperance. 

II.  What  are  the  principal  means  of  intoxication  ;  among  what  classes,  and  to  what  extev.t 
does  that  vice  prevail  ? 

The  intoxicating  article  most  used  here,  is  the  wine  of  the  country,  which  is  very  abundant. 
Aaother  article,  considerably  used,  is  Arrack — Asiatic  Brandy,  distilled  from  dried  crapes,  or 
from  the  residue  of  strength  in  grapes  after  the  wine  is  extracted.  European  liquors  are  also 
rolling  in  upon  the  country  like  a  flood  ;  and  our  missionary  brethren,  who  have  just  arrived, 
were  preceded  but  one  week,  by  a  caravan,  bearing,  among  other  poisons  of  the  same  kind, 
eighteen  barrels  of  New  England  Rum  !  What  an  indignity  cast  upon  the  pool  brutes  even, 
that  are  made  to  plod  their  way  over  a  journey  of  six  hundred  miles,  groaning  under  almost  in- 
tolerable loads  that  are  only  to  degrade  the  species  that  drive  them  incoraparatively  below 
themselves!  I  see  no  other  article  of  American  manufacture  in  the  market  here,  but  Rum  ! 
Can  the  enterprising  of  my  country,  send  to  Persia,  no  better  representative  ?  Well  may  the 
American  churches  multiply  their  missionaries  to  this  country,  if  it  were  merely  to  heal  the 
diseases  sown  by  their  JVew  England  Rum  ! 

I  may  say,  in  general,  that  intemperance  prevails  among  all  classes,  in  Persia.  Many,  a 
great  many,  of  the  Nestorians  are  intemperate;  the  Armenians  are  fearfully  so  ;  and  the 
Georgians,  of  whom  there  are  many,  in  this  part  of  Persia,  are  yet  more  brutalized  by  the 
prevalence  of  drunkenness.  The  Mohammedans,  too,  are  becoming  very  intemperate.  Though 
their  Prophet,  as  you  are  aware,  forbade  the  use  of  wine,  and,  as  he  supposed,  of  all  intoxi- 
cating drinks,  inasmuch  as  the  art  of  distillation  was  then  unknown,  still  multitudes,  in  the 
face  of  what  they  acknowledge  to  he  a  divine  prohibition,  give  themselves  up  to  habitual  intem- 
perance. While  they  dispise  the  Christian  population,  as  they  detest  the  dogs  in  the  streets, 
and  the  swine  upon  the  mountains  ;  they  shamelessly  wallow  with  the  nominal  Christian,  in 
the  filthiest  of  his  vices. 

The  extent,  to  which  intemperance  prevails  among  the  nominal  Christians  of  this  country, 
you  may  infer  from  two  or  three  facts.  The  Sabbath  is  particularly  devoted  to  intoxication. 
The  mummery  of  their  religious  forms  is  repeated  at  a  very  early  hour  in  the  morning,  and  the 
rest  of  the  day  is  fully  given  up  to  carousal.  During  their  numerous  fasts,  the  more  rigid  part 
abstain  from  the  use  of  wine  ;  but  in  anticipation  of  the  abstinence,  and  to  mako  up  for  it,  each 
fast  is  commenced  and  closed  by  a  drunken  revel.  And  such  is  the  impression  which  the  in- 
temperance of  nominal  Christians,  here,  makes  upon  their  musselman  neighbors,  that,  when- 
ever a  Mohammedan  is  seen  intoxicated,  his  countrymen  tauntingly  exclaim,  that  man  has 
left  Mohammed,  uiid  has  gone  to  Jesus." 


deed,  ia  po  fonm 


lorrne:  ,  a 


.-.  i; 


■  aumber  of  its  jrv 
'"re  have  we,, 

■■I    \y  «-• ;.-, 


